Chances of Babar Azam landing ODI captaincy high: report

LAHORE: Recently appointed T20I captain Babar Azam is likely to be made the national team’s ODI skipper as well as the vice-captain in Tests, according to sources close to the matter.

Azam on Friday became a direct beneficiary of Sarfaraz Ahmed’s fall from grace when the former was handed the T20I leadership held by the latter.

While the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) removed Sarfaraz from the longest and shortest formats, it made no announcements regarding the 50-over side’s captaincy.

The rumour has it that the board, as things presently stand, plan on making Azam the ODI skipper too, although an announcement in this regard is not expected to be made until next year when Pakistan play the Netherlands.

Meanwhile, wicketkeeper-batsman Mohammad Rizwan is the favourite to be made Azam’s deputy in T20Is.

A final decision regarding the Test and T20I vice-captaincies will be out on Monday when the squads for the upcoming tour of Australia will be announced.