Pakistan team management has justified the decision to reconsider the Test leadership as it aims to improve the situation in the ongoing World Test Championship (WTC).
Speaking with a journalist in a media interaction, Pakistan’s head coach Aaqib Javed stated the decision was not made lightly, particularly given the ongoing World Test Championship.
He pointed out that Pakistan have played four matches of the current tour of the WTC and have nine more to go in the remainder of the series and it was very important to have a captain who can lead the team to the end of the WTC.
There were discussions among all selectors, as to who should lead the team and Babar Azam was picked up for that job, he said.
His focus was on the individual level of play, but he said the final assessment of success or failure would come down to what happens on the pitch.
The Pakistan coach cited a few narrow losses that had played a role in the decision.
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He also drew attention to the inability of the Pakistan team to close games as they had been bowled out for 180 only in the second game against the West Indies in the home series.
Aaqib added that in certain instances the selectors are responsible for the performance of their team and in some cases the captain is responsible.
The main job of a skipper is to keep the team focused on the goal, utilise the Decision Review System (DRS) well, take the right decisions after a toss and secure vital victory moments, he added.
Acknowledging that Shan Masood has done well on his own he said that the desired team output under his leadership could not be obtained so far.
He further added that the management felt that a change in skipper would enable Pakistan to play the side more effectively and achieve results in the second half of the World Test Championship.
Also read: Babar Azam appointed as Pakistan’s new test captain
