Since Najam Sethi took charge of the PCB's office as management committee chairman, the national team's captaincy and Babar Azam's position, as well as his authority, have been swinging like a see-saw.
Things caught fire when Babar was rested for the Afghanistan series, and Shadab Khan was announced as his replacement - since he was the most potential candidate as vice-captain of the national team in the shorter format.
At that point, Sethi, took everyone, from journalists to fans, in trust that Babar, along with some other big names, had been rested for Afghanistan series because they had been playing non-stop cricket for last two years and needed a well-deserved break.
He also ensured there is no threat even remotely to Babar's captaincy and that he rules millions of hearts - he shall stay the captain of all three formats as long as he wants.
Unfortunately, Shadab, as a captain, couldn't register a win to his name, and Pakistan had to suffer a series failure for the first time in history against Afghanistan.
Given the circumstances, Babar Azam was recalled for the home series against New Zealand. But innuendo statements from the chair himself has put a question mark on the future of Babar Azam as the national team's skipper.
Few days back, Sethi, in one of his interviews, subtly blamed the interim selection committee, which was formulated in order to lead the selection of the test series against New Zealand - that some members of the committee wanted a captaincy switch. However, later onwards, they didn't find a solid reason to do so.
Refuting this statement, Afridi, who was then leading the interim selection committee, said that it wasn't him who suggested PCB to replace Babar as captain.
To make the affairs more transparent, the chairman PCB took over his Twitter and made the future of the national team's skipper steer clear.
The controversial statements, the cover-ups, and the blame game wasn't perceived pleasantly by the cricket fans, especially the Babar fandom. It was a matter of seconds for them when they started running #StayInYourLimitsNajamSethi and #BabarAzamIsOurRedLine on Twitter.
Fans have gradually started to believe that a pre-notion agenda has been plotted against Babar by the current board regime.
Many of them also came up with the assumption that since Pakistan captain was the former chair, Ramiz Raja’s favorite, Sethi and company have only been placing him on the revenge arc.
Pakistan cricket has seen several changes in captaincy over the years. The captaincy of the Pakistan cricket team is a prestigious position that comes with immense responsibility and scrutiny.
Frequent captaincy changes can have both positive and negative impacts on Pakistan cricket. It can potentially disrupt team stability, long-term planning, and player confidence, especially since we are standing in the World Cup year.
It is crucial for the Pakistan Cricket Board to carefully consider the timing and reasons for captaincy changes and strive for stability and continuity in leadership to build a successful and consistent cricket team.