Former Pakistan cricketer Danish Kaneria has spoken about the team’s next captain after the debacle at the T20 World Cup 2024. He claimed that the governing body should make Fakhar Zaman the leader and give him a group of 20 players for the next year.

Pakistan’s national cricket team has been under a lot of scrutiny lately. There are a lot of dramas and controversies because there is no clarity regarding the team’s roadmap. This lack of clarity also led to the debacle at the 2024 T20 World Cup where they faced a group stage elimination.

One of the main factors behind Pakistan’s poor performance of late has been team management. After the 2023 ICC World Cup in India, the team sacked Babar Azam as captain and appointed Shaheen Afridi as leader. But the fast bowler was only given one series to prove his worth as he was then replaced again by Babar Azam.

The decision to reappoint Babar Azam did not work out at all as Pakistan put in a torrid performance at the 2024 T20 World Cup. They suffered a group stage exit as they faced defeats against the United States of America and India, which led to his dismissal and saw them face a lot of criticism.

Denmark’s Kaneria believes that unless the right selection is made, Pakistan will not be successful. He highlighted the captaincy saga and stated that Fakhar Zaman should be handed over the leadership as Pakistan could play in the 2026 T20 World Cup qualifying round. Speaking to Times Now, he explained:

“Pakistan cricket, until it does, elects the right people, in the right place and with the right players. Now, the captaincy problem. Why did they drop Shaheen Afridi after one series, They brought back Babar Azam and took over the captaincy?

“I think, in my opinion, they should hire Fakhar Zaman as the captain of the Pakistan white-ball team and just give them a year and have 20 guys in the group and just play with them. And then think about it, because now they have to play a 2026 qualifier.”

The selection process is not going to help Pakistan cricket if they act this way – Danish Kaneria

Denmark’s Kaneria further claimed that Pakistan have been world champions and know how to get out of such situations, but made a strong statement by saying that if this selection process continues, it will not help the team.

“So Pakistan is a world, they are world champions. They have, they have their 50s, T20 World Cup, everything is there. But the procedure and the selection procedure will not help Pakistan cricket if they like this.”

It remains to be seen what roadmap the Pakistan team will follow going forward. It is unclear whether Babar Azam will continue to be the captain or not.