Babar Azam reinstated as Pakistan’s white-ball captain
Babar Azam has been re-appointed as Pakistan’s skipper in white-ball cricket, as announced by the Pakistan Cricket Board on Sunday (March 31).
This decision marks the end of Shaheen Afridi’s brief tenure as the T20 skipper, as he led the national side in just one series.
Babar, who previously held the position of all-format captain until last year, had stepped down following Pakistan’s disappointing campaign in the World Cup held in India.
Following Babar’s resignation, the PCB underwent several changes, ultimately assigning the Test captaincy to Shan Masood.
While Masood led the team in Australia, resulting in a loss for Pakistan, the T20I captaincy was handed over to Afridi, with Mohammad Rizwan appointed as his deputy.
However, Pakistan faced a 4-1 defeat in Afridi’s first series as captain, and his PSL team, Lahore Qalandars, also struggled, winning only one game out of ten and finishing at the bottom of the table.
The current selection panel, comprising Wahab Riaz, Asad Shafiq, Abdul Razzaq, and Mohammad Yousuf, unanimously recommended Babar’s reinstatement as captain.
Babar will lead the team in an upcoming five-match T20I series against New Zealand at home, followed by four T20I games against England away, leading up to the T20 World Cup in June.
Leave a Reply