Shoaib Akhtar Names Star All-Rounder To Replace Babar Azam As Pakistan Captain In Limited Overs Cricket

New Delhi: Former Pakistan pacer Shoaib Akhtar has backed Shadab Khan to replace Babar Azam as national team’s future captain in white-ball cricket. Under Babar, Pakistan reached the final of the T20 World Cup last year, before losing to England.

Shadab is currently leading Islamabad United in the ongoing Pakistan Super League (PSL) and his team are second in the points table behind leaders Multan Sultan. Shadab has also served as Babar’s deputy in the T20 World Cup last year.

“Shadab is a very smart kid when it comes to cricket skills. He wants to improve, which is a very good thing. He is ready to accept his mistakes and rectify them. In past two years, he has worked really hard on his bowling and his fitness has improved as well,” Akhtar was quoted as saying to Cricket Pakistan.

“He wants to look good and speaks well. In times to come, he is not a bad option for captaincy for Pakistan in white-ball cricket,” added the former tearaway pacer. Akhtar is also hopefull that Islamabad can lift the PSL 2023 trophy under Shadab.

“Shadab is a great captain and future of Pakistan cricket. I think Shadab is an aggressive captain with a balanced team, great batting line-up and a great attitude. Shadab and Azhar Mahmood (as coach) are looking great and they can win the PSL 8 trophy,” he added.

So far Shadab has played six Tests, 53 ODIs and 84 T20Is for Pakistan. Meanwhile, Akhtar has been in the news for quite some time now after his remarks on Babar and Pakistan players inability to speak English fluently.

The former pacer also stated that despite the biggest cricketer in the country at this moment, Babar has failed to become the biggest brand in Pakistan due to his communication skills.