Babar Azam Returns As Pakistan Test Captain After PCB Axes Shan Masood

Babar Azam has returned as the captain of the Pakistan test team for the second time in his career after Shan Masood was removed from his position following an abysmal captaincy stint.

While historically Babar Azam's return to captaincy after being removed for the first time hasn't been a successful experiment, with the 2024 T20 World Cup being the prime example, the Pakistan selectors, headed by Aaqib Javed, have once again shown faith in Babar's leadership skills to revive Pakistan's test cricket.

The decision by national selection committee came at the announcement of the Pakistan squad for the two-test match tour to West Indies, where Babar Azam will reclaim the Test captaincy.

Shan Masood was appointed Pakistan's Test captain three years ago ahead of the three-match tour of Australia. Since then, he has led the side in 16 Tests, losing 12 of them. It marked the first instance in Pakistan's Test history of a captain losing 12 of his first 16 matches in charge.

Misbah-ul-Haq remains the only Pakistan captain to have lost more Tests than Masood, suffering 19 defeats in 56 matches. Notably, both Misbah and Masood ended their captaincy tenures with seven consecutive Test defeats — the joint-longest losing streak for a Pakistan captain.

According to Aaqib Javed, one of the major reason for axing Shan Masood's apart from his poor captaincy was letting go of winning positions on a regular basis.

"We saw many close Test matches [under Shan's captaincy]. But a few things were not being addressed. Like the Centurion Test, South Africa's two batters at No. 10 [for the tenth wicket] put on a 60-70 run partnership [51 runs]. The game was in our hands. Against the West Indies in Multan, in the second Test, the team was rolled over easily," said Javed during the press conference.

Shan Masood To Continue As A Player

Although Shan Masood has been removed as captain, he managed to retain his place in the squad. While his leadership record has been underwhelming, his personal form with the bat improved during his tenure as skipper — something that was also acknowledged by Aaqib Javed during the press conference, which likely contributed to his retention.

Masood's batting average as captain rose to 34.06, nearly six runs higher than the 28.51 he averaged before taking charge. The period included two centuries, one of which came in South Africa, along with seven half-centuries, including two in a single match at the MCG.

"Shan's own performance during his tenure has been good, but as captain, he has not been able to bring the desired results," Aaqib said. "We wanted to look for a captain who comes in and leads the team better," Aaqib Javed on Shan's batting form.

Babar Azam's appointment as skipper comes at a time when Pakistan's test schedule is packed with some exciting overseas and home series. After the two-match series in the West Indies, he'll lead Pakistan to England for a three-match series, followed by a busy home winter season, which includes series against New Zealand and Sri Lanka.