PCB convenes high-level meeting to discuss future direction of cricket

LAHORE: The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) has decided to convene a high-profile meeting and workshop to discuss the future direction of Pakistan cricket.

The event, dubbed the “Connection Camp,” is scheduled for September 22 and will be presided over by PCB Chairman Mohsin Naqvi.

The Connection Camp aims to strategise on critical issues concerning the national cricket team, including captaincy decisions and the overall performance of the squad. This meeting will feature key stakeholders such as red-ball head coach Jason Gillespie, white-ball head coach Gary Kirsten, and heads of the PCB’s international, domestic, and high-performance departments. Senior cricketers, coaches, and other PCB officials will also be in attendance.

The discussions are expected to include evaluations of the current captaincy arrangements, with particular focus on Babar Azam’s role as the white-ball captain and Shan Masood’s tenure as the Test captain. Babar’s captaincy has come under scrutiny after Pakistan’s disappointing performance in the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2024, where they failed to qualify for the Super Eights following losses to the USA and India. Babar, who stepped down from all-format captaincy after the national team’s struggles in the ICC Men’s World Cup 2023, was reinstated as white-ball captain in March this year.

The absence of Babar Azam from the captaincy role for the upcoming Champions One-Day Cup has fuelled speculation that his tenure as the white-ball captain may soon come to an end. There are reports that Rizwan is being considered for captaincy.