‘Azhar not to be removed anytime soon’

LAHORE: The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) has no plans to remove Azhar Ali as Test captain anytime soon, sources said.

An official of the PCB claimed that Prime Minister Imran Khan wanted him to lead the team for a long duration.

“There is no truth in reports about his removal,” said a source.

Former captain and member of the cricket committee Wasim Akram expressed dissatisfaction over Azhar’s leadership style during the first Test against England. Expressing surprise at the loss in the first Test, he said that Azhar’s captaincy was not good enough and he needed to be replaced.

But a PCB official said it had been made clear that Imran Khan has not expressed any desire to see Azhar Ali removed from the captaincy.

Azhar Ali, who replaced Sarfraz Ahmed as captain of the Test team in October last year, struggled in the series against Australia but regained confidence thanks to home victories against Sri Lanka and Bangladesh.