Babar Azam Reappointed Pakistan White-ball Captain Ahead of T20 World Cup 2024

In a stunning reversal, Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) has appointed star batter Babar Azam as the ODI and T20I captain months after removing him from the role. Babar had stepped down after Pakistan’s forgettable show at the 2023 ODI World Cup last year with Shan Masood taking over the Test captaincy while Shaheen Afridi handed over the reins of T20I side.

No decision was taken on ODI captaincy back then but after a meeting between Babar and PCB chairman Mohsin Naqvi, suspense over the leadership role has ended.

“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,” PCB said on X (formerly Twitter).

PCB’s announcement means Test captaincy will stay with Shan.

Earlier, various media reports claimed that Babar would agree a return to captaincy only on the condition if he gets to lead across formats.

Moreover, it has been reported that Shaheen Afridi wasn’t kept in the loop when PCB was discussing about replacing him as the T20I captain.

“Shaheen is rightly upset as being the national T20 captain he expected that even if the board/selectors wanted to remove him they have the decency to also inform him for the reasons behind this and keep him in the loop about everything,” a source was quoted as saying by news agency PTI.

Shaheen reportedly was willing to step down from the role had PCB informed him about their plans.

The 23-year-old left-arm pacer was made the captain after his success with Lahore Qalandars as he captained them to two successive Pakistan Super League titles.

However, in his first assignment, Shaheen-led Pakistan suffered a 1-4 T20I series defeat against New Zealand and then in the recent PSL, Qalandars finished at the bottom of the points table.