Pakistan welcomes their star batsman Babar Azam as the leader in the white ball cricket again. He replaced Shaheen Afridi from the role while the role of Shan Masood in test cricket is still not confirmed. But it was expected that Masood might continue his leadership in red ball cricket.
Babar was replaced by Afridi after the 2023 ODI World Cup as PAK was unable to reach the Semis and didn’t perform well in the initial matches.
Afridi just led the team in one T20 series against New Zealand, where he was defeated by the Kiwis by 4-1. Also in the PSL, he is the captain of Lahore Qalandars and in the 2024 season he won 1 and lost 8 matches.
After seeing the pathetic performance by the team under Shaheen’s leadership, the current selection panel which includes Wahab Riaz, Abdul Razzaq, Asad Shafiq and Mohammad Yousuf and the PCB decided to get back into Babar again in the white ball cricket.
PCB declared this in their social media handle ‘X’ where they said, “Babar Azam appointed as white-ball captain. Following unanimous recommendation from the PCB’s selection committee, Chairman PCB Mohsin Naqvi has appointed Babar Azam as white-ball (ODI and T20I) captain of the PAK men’s cricket team.”
Babar Azam appointed as white-ball captain
— Pakistan Cricket (@TheRealPCB) March 31, 2024
Following unanimous recommendation from the PCB’s selection committee, Chairman PCB Mohsin Naqvi has appointed Babar Azam as white-ball (ODI and T20I) captain of the Pakistan men's cricket team. pic.twitter.com/ad4KLJYRMK
Babar will experience his role again from the upcoming New Zealand T20 series which will start from next month and 5 matches will be played. Then he will have to face a bigger and harder challenge as the T20 World Cup will start from June 2nd.