Babar Azam, the star cricketer, has been offered the captaincy for the white ball formats by PCB Chairman Mohsin Naqvi. However, Babar has not yet made a decision and has set some conditions for accepting the captaincy. He wants to have a say in the appointment of coaches and wishes to lead the team in all three formats.
The national selection committee seems to be divided on this issue. Some members are in favor of letting Shaheen Shah Afridi continue as captain for the upcoming home T20 series against New Zealand in April to give him a chance to prove himself. They feel it might be best to wait for a series or two before bringing back Babar as captain.
The selectors, including Muhammad Yousuf, Asad Shafiq, Abdul Razzaq, Wahab Riaz, and former minister Bilal Afzal, have expressed their opinions to the PCB chief, Mohsin Naqvi. They have asked him to make the final call and convince Babar to accept the white ball captaincy for now. The decision regarding the red ball captaincy will be made after the T20 World Cup.
Despite the clear mandate given by the PCB chief to the selectors to choose the captain, there is still uncertainty. The Test captaincy currently belongs to Shan Masood. Additionally, there is no clarity on the appointment of foreign coaches for the national team. The PCB has faced refusals from several foreigners and is now in negotiations with Gary Kirsten and Jason Gillispie to take over as white ball and red ball coaches.
Kirsten and Gillispie are keen on bringing their own support staff, while the PCB wants to include some local players as assistant specialist coaches. The final decisions are yet to be made, but negotiations are ongoing.
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