A member of the Pakistan Cricket Board’s (PCB) Cricket Committee has reportedly informed Prime Minister, Imran Khan, that Azhar Ali is not capable of captaining the team and needs to be replaced.
The Prime Minister, who is also the PCB’s patron-in-chief, met the board and committee officials, as well as senior players, on Wednesday. ------------------------------
The delegation comprised of Chairman PCB, Ehsan Mani, Chief Executive Officer, Wasim Khan, Cricket Committee member, Wasim Akram, head coach, and chief selector, Misbah-ul-Haq, Test captain, Azhar Ali, and all-rounder, Mohammad Hafeez.
During the meeting, the premier inquired the delegation as to why Pakistan lost the first Test against England in Manchester from a winning position. To this, Wasim Akram told PM Khan that Azhar’s lack of leadership skills cost the game.
The former captain reportedly said that they have lost confidence in Azhar’s captaincy and stressed that he needs to be replaced as soon as possible. Wasim Akram criticized Azhar’s leadership qualities after Pakistan’s loss to England in the first Test, slamming him for his defensive approach. ------------------------------
Since taking over as Test captain in August 2019, Azhar has led the team in eight matches out of which Pakistan won two and lost three. The wins came against Sri Lanka and Bangladesh while three matches ended in a draw.
Under Azhar’s captaincy, notable series defeats include a 2-0 whitewash against Australia and a 1-0 loss in the recently concluded three-match series against England.