Babar Azam stepped down because of this report and it had no PCB hand it – Inside Sport India

Pakistan Cricket Team‘s head coach Gary Kirsten and assistant coach Azhar Mahmood’s report to the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) is deemed as one of the main reasons of Babar Azam;s decision to leave the captaincy. Reports claim that the PCB had no hand in Babar resigning but in fact with the coaches’ reports becoming public to the PCB is said to the be the exact reason.

The Pakistan Cricket Team faltered hugely in the ICC T20 World Cup. And both Kirsten and Mahmood’s report revealed the shortcoming of Babar Azam as the skipper. The former skipper was deeply unhappy with the report and thus decided to step down from his post.

“Babar was not happy with the observations and recommendations of Kirsten and even assistant coach, Azhar Mahmood and felt he was solely being blamed for the disappointing performances,” one insider was quoted as saying by PTI.

“He had indicated to the cricket board after some parts of Kirsten’s report became public that he was not interested in remaining captain,” the insider added.

Why did Babar Azam step down as Captain?

It has come to light that Babar Azam in fact spoke with some of the officials of the PCB. He claimed that he was unhappy that his previous performances for the team was not considered and thus essentially the PCB lost their trust on him. Furthermore, the PCB also didn’t announce him as the captain of the ODI team which he was initially promised before the ICC T20 World Cup.

Kirsten claimed that how the dressing room and the non-compliance of some players had an adverse effect on the team. And as captain of the side, Babar failed to control it. Furthermore, the report stated that Babar was unable to handle the pressure of the captaincy. His failure to lead the side in the ODI World Cup 2023 too had it’s toll.

“Chairman, Mohsin Naqvi has made it clear he wants minutes of all official discussions by the selection committee that includes both foreign head coaches to be recorded so that a clear reason is on record for making the appointment,” he added.