Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) named Babar Azam as Pakistan’s vice-captain a few days back. So, here is a look at why the board had little choice but to announce the national team’s mainstay for the position, ahead of some of the other candidates.
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Plays All Three Formats
No other candidate which included names of Imad Wasim, Asad Shafiq, Azhar Ali and Shan Masood is a regular across formats. PCB has had a pretty ordinary experience every time they have named different skippers for different versions of the game. Hence, it seems while considering the long term perspective, they have opted for someone who is likely to feature in all formats of the game during the next five years or so.
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Fitter and Younger Than All Other Candidates
At 24 years of age, the upper-order batsman is both younger and fitter than all other candidates. Thus, he has a better chance of serving the country for a longer period of time as its leader on the cricket field. By appointing Babar Azam as Pakistan’s vice-captain then, PCB has actually named an individual who they think can still learn and thus, be groomed.
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A Star In The Making
Babar Azam has been fantastic in the limited overs formats of the game. Nevertheless, he is yet to make his mark at the Test level. Still, he has shown great promise and is a great prospect and there is no one else in Pakistan’s cricket team as of now, who is in a position to challenge Babar’s status as a true star in the making!