'He was an active captain on the field' - Shadab Khan draws comparision between Sarfaraz Ahmed and Babar Azam

Star Pakistani all-rounder Shadab Khan has pointed out the difference between former captain Sarfaraz Ahmed’s and current leader Babar Azam’s captaincies. He said that the wicketkeeper-batter was a more active leader on the pitch compared to Babar by being more vocal. The current captain has already settled himself as one of the best batters of world cricket and has done pretty well in the leadership department as well. He will be leading the strong-again Pakistani side in the upcoming 2022 T20 World Cup in Australia and then in the ODI World Cup in India next year.

Babar replaced Sarfaraz in 2019 after Pakistan failed to reach the semi-final stage of the 2019 World Cup. The wicketkeeper-batter was sacked before the Australia tour and was replaced by Azhar Ali in Tests and Babar in white-ball cricket. Babar also took over Test captaincy at the end of the year 2020 and has done very well since then. He has united the disrupted Pakistani squad and is likely to stay at helm for a while. Shadab Khan, the current vice-captain for white-ball teams, made his international debut under the leadership of Sarfaraz and is being groomed as the next leader of the Pakistan team.

“Sarfaraz was an active captain on the field, whereas Babar Azam does not depict his emotions much and stays calm. He said that Babar got under pressure in his early phase of captaincy but he is well settled now,” Shadab Khan said in a Twitter video.

I want to play Test cricket: Shadab Khan

Shadab has featured in just six Test matches for Pakistan so far and his last international red-ball match was against England in August 2020. He has scored three fifties and has taken 14 wickets in Test cricket and is looking for a comeback now. He rates Test cricket as the premium format of the game and said there is nothing more charming than playing it for one’s country.

“I want to play Test cricket, but to be honest, I think I can’t take my place in the Test squad right now. I have not played first-class cricket for quite a while but I want to make a comeback in the premium format of the game because there is nothing more charming than playing Test cricket for your country,” Shadab Khan added.