Babar stepped down as captain after Pakistan’s disappointing World Cup showing in India last year
Pakistan Cricket Board announced on Sunday (March 31) that Babar Azam has been re-appointed as Pakistan’s skipper in white-ball cricket. This decision means that Shaheen Afridi’s reign as the T20 skipper has come to an early end after he led the national side in just one series.
Babar was Pakistan’s all-format skipper until last year, but he resigned from his role following his side’s poor campaign in the World Cup held in India. The PCB underwent multiple changes during this time, and eventually, it was decided to hand over the Test captaincy to Shan Masood.
While Masood led in Australia where Pakistan lost, the T20I captaincy was handed over to Afridi with Mohammad Rizwan named his deputy. Unfortunately, Pakistan lost Afridi’s first series as captain by a 4-1 margin, and under his leadership, the fast bowler’s PSL side Lahore Qalandars also endured a poor campaign where they won just a solitary game out of ten to finish bottom.
The current selection panel comprises Wahab Riaz, Asad Shafiq, Abdul Razzaq, and Mohammad Yousuf, and the PCB has stated that the decision to reappoint Babar was made following a unanimous recommendation from the selectors. Babar will now lead the side against New Zealand at home in a five-match T20I series before playing England away for four more T20I games ahead of the T20 World Cup in June.