Babar Azam stepping down as captain won't affect Pakistan Test team: Saud Shakeel

PAK vs ENG: Saud Shakeel said that Pakistan dressing room has a healthy environment and won't be affected after Babar Azam stepped down as the ODI and T20I skipper.

In Short

• Babar Azam had stepped down as Pakistan’s ODI and T20I skippers
• Saud Shakeel said that Pakistan dressing room won’t be affected after Babar’s resignation
• Pakistan’s first Test in Multan will start on October 7

Saud Shakeel said that Babar Azam resigning as the Pakistan ODI and T20I teams won’t affect the Test team. On Tuesday, Babar resigned as the national limited-overs skipper for the second time inside 12 months, citing that he would want to free himself from the workload of captaincy and focus more on his batting.

Shakeel said that Babar’s resignation hasn’t affected the environment in the Test team. Shakeel is set to play a key role in the batting department when Pakistan lock horns with England in the opening Test in Multan, starting Monday, October 7.

“If a selector resigns, it’s his personal decision and Babar’s decision is also personal and is in white-ball cricket. So, it doesn’t make a difference as both things are related to different formats. The red-ball team won’t be affected, and we didn’t discuss it in our setup either as a group. The environment is healthy,” Shakeel said in a press conference.

‘England provide a lot of chances’

Back in 2022, England toured Pakistan for a three-match Test series and won 3-0. The Three Lions had become the first Test team to whitewash Pakistan in Pakistan. Shakeel, who scored 346 runs in that series at an average of 57.66, said that the hosts need to grab the chances England give with their attacking brand of cricket.

“If you look at the last series, the one we played against England, we got close many times. But we were unable to finish. England provide a lot of chances given the way they play their cricket in an attacking way. We only have to take advantage of the opportunities and win the series,” Shakeel added.

Pakistan are currently languishing at eighth in the table in the 2023-25 World Test Championship (WTC), having garnered 16 points from seven games.