LAHORE - After retirement of the most successful skipper of Pakistan cricket Misbah-ul-Haq, cool headed Azhar Ali came to the front as a top contender for captaincy of the national team.
Most of the think tanks are agreed on the name of Azhar as next Pakistan cricket team captain. According to the sources, though the names of Fawad Alam and Asad Shafiq are also under consideration, yet the situation is in more favour of Azhar than the others.
Former captain Misbah, head coach Waqar Younis and a few in team management also suggested Azhar’s name for captaincy and gave his positive report to PCB chairman Shaharyar M Khan regarding captaincy.
Though the names of Ahmed Shahzad, Umar Akmal, Sohaib Maqsood and M Hafeez were also under consideration yet there is no positive report about them to be picked up as a next captain.
The sources also revealed that the PCB had decided to send Azhar as a captain of Pakistan A team touring Sri Lanka next month where his abilities as a captain will be tested. If he succeeds in captaining the A team well, there will be a great chance for him to be handed the national team captaincy. There is also a chance to check Azhar’s captaincy capabilities during the Pakistan-Bangladesh series if the proposed series is finalized,’ the sources added.  In the above mentioned scenario, it is highly likely Azhar Ali can be given ahead as next national team captain.