Pakistan captain Babar Azam announced on Tuesday that he is stepping down as the white-ball captain, citing that he needed to start focusing on being a player and working on himself.
“Stepping back from the game, I will get clarity moving forward and focus more energy on my game and personal growth,” announced the 29-year-old batter.
The Pakistan Cricket Board had, on March 31, announced the reappointment of Babar as captain of the T20I and one-day internationals setup of the national team.
He had, in November 2023, called time on his years-long stint as skipper after he ended his tenure as captain of the national side.
“Today, I want to share some news with you all. After a lot of thinking, I have decided that I will step down as the captain of the men’s cricket team of Pakistan. My resignation was sent last month to the PCB and Team Management for which a formal announcement is being made today,” said Babar.
Babar said, while talking about the role of the skipper, “The captaincy has been very rewarding, but it brought a lot of workload. I want to focus on my performance, enjoy my batting, and also spend quality time with my family, which gives me joy,” he emphasized.
“It will provide me with more clarity going forward and will allow me to focus more energies on my game and self-improvement,” Babar added.
The star batter expressed his gratefulness for the support on the extension and said he’s excited to continue to be able to contribute to the team as a player.
This is the second time Babar has vacated captaincy of the national side. He had resigned from captaincy amidst severe criticism when Pakistan failed to perform in the Asia Cup and carried that performance into the World Cup, having crashed out much before the semis.
