3 players who can replace Babar Azam as Pakistan's Test captain

Pakistan's Babar Azam has been one of the best batters in the world in recent times. He has been a consistent run-getter across all 3 formats of the game. He was elevated to the Test captaincy role in 2021 after Azhar Ali stepped down.

Azam started on a winning note, whitewashing South Africa 2-0 at home and Zimbabwe 2-0 away. However, the team had a poor run under the talisman batter in this cycle of the World Test Championship. They failed to win a single home Test against Australia, England and New Zealand. Pakistan could not win the series in West Indies and Sri Lanka either, drawing 1-1 in both countries.

The 28-year-old has been criticized by the media for the team's poor performances in home Tests. Failing to win a single Test in 7 matches does not leave a good impression of him as a leader. The decision to step down might help in taking some pressure off the star batter, who was impeccable with the bat in Test cricket last year.

Let's take a look at the 3 potential options to replace Babar Azam as Pakistan's red-ball captain.

#1 Mohammad Rizwan

Mohammad Rizwan has been a part of the leadership group (Getty Images)

Mohammad Rizwan seems to be the most obvious successor. He is a wicketkeeper and a regular member of the leadership group. He led Pakistan on their tour to New Zealand in 2020/21, where they lost 2-0.

Rizwan has leadership credentials, albeit in a different format. He led the Multan Sultans to a PSL title in the 2021 edition of the league. This shows that he has the capability to lift a team up and take responsibility as a leader.

However, his form has been a cause for concern off-late. He has scored only 261 runs in the last 10 innings since the Sri Lanka tour. If he can fix that, he will definitely be one of the top options the management will consider if Babar Azam steps down from the post.

#2 Shaheen Afridi

The 'real game' is the Test!

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Shaheen Afridi has been one of the best players to debut for Pakistan in the last 5 years. The left-arm fast bowler has been highly impactful in all 3 forms of the game.

Like Rizwan, Shaheen also displayed his leadership skills in the PSL. He became the youngest captain to win a major T20 trophy, leading the Lahore Qalandars to their first PSL title last season.

Managing his workload appropriately would be a major challenge, seeing that Afridi has been quite injury prone in the past. The team could consider resting him more often in T20Is, ensuring that he gets to play a majority of the Test matches at his best fitness level and lead the team to victory.

#3 Sarfaraz Ahmed

Can Sarfaraz Ahmed and Mohammad Rizwan play in the same Test XI? https://t.co/AXXmPEDvBL

Sarfaraz Ahmed remains one of the only three Pakistan captains to win an ICC trophy. He also led the country in 13 Test matches from September 2017 to January 2019 - winning 4 matches, losing 8 and drawing 1.

Sarfaraz made a comeback to the playing XI of the Test team after nearly 4 years in a 2-match series against the Blackcaps. He made an instant impact with scores of 86, 53 and 78. If he plays a crucial knock on the 5th day of the ongoing 2nd Test, he will definitely strengthen his case to play as a pure batter in the Pakistan test team.

If he could chip in with some more consistent performances as a pure batter, he could be accommodated in the playing XI along with Mohammad Rizwan. Hence, he could also be a potential leadership option for the Men in Green.