Babar Azam is Pakistan's future captain in all three formats: PCB CEO

Lahore, June 24:  Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) CEO Wasim Khan stated Babar Azam is the team's future captain across formats as he has already shown that despite being relatively younger than his contemporaries, he handles pressure really well.

Azam was named Pakistan's T20 skipper while Azhar Ali was appointed as Test captain after Sarfaraz Ahmed was sacked in October last year. Azam was appointed as the ODI skipper last month.

Khan drew parallels between former South Africa skipper Graeme Smith and Azam and said both were appointed as captains very early in their respective careers.

"Look at Graeme Smith, he was 23 when he was made captain and look at his record. I think before you give someone the captaincy, you have to understand what kind of individual they are. Can they handle the pressure? Is it going to affect their game?" Khan was quoted as saying by Cricket Pakistan.

"So far Babar has proved that the decision was right. He is our future captain across all three formats."

"But we have to develop 11 leaders which we haven't done for a very long time. In the past, we have relied on one or two players to be the leader," he added.

Azam will next be seen in action when Pakistan travel to England for a series involving three Tests and as many T20Is, starting August 1. The contest will be played after England's three-Test series against West Indies, starting July 8.

The fate of the tour, however, remains in balance as 10 players of the Pakistan squad recently tested positive for COVID-19.

According to PCB, the players who had tested positive for the virus were Fakhar Zaman, Imran Khan, Kashif Bhatti, Mohammad Hafeez, Mohammad Hasnain, Mohammad Rizwan, Wahab Riaz, Haider Ali, Haris Rauf and Shadab Khan.

Hafeez, however, conducted a private test for "second opinion" for him and his family and said on Wednesday in a tweet that the result came out negative.

"After Tested positive COVID-19 acc to PCB testing Report yesterday, as 2nd opinion & for satisfaction I personally went to Test it again along with my family and here I along with my all family members are reported Negetive Alham du Lillah. May Allah keep us all safe (sic)," Hafeez said on his official Twitter handle with the report of his test.