- PCB confirmed Bbaar Azam's captaincy for white-ball cricket.
- PCB made official announcement on social media.
- Babar setpped down from captaincy after Cricket World Cup.
A local news channel reported that Babar was unanimously chosen by the PCB’s selection committee to lead Pakistan in the forthcoming Men’s T20 World Cup.
The PCB made the announcement official on social media, affirming Chairman Mohsin Naqvi’s decision to assign Babar the leadership responsibilities for the ODI and T20I formats.
“Chairman PCB Mohsin Naqvi has appointed Babar Azam as white-ball (ODI and T20I) captain of the Pakistan men’s cricket team,” was the confirmation given by PCB on social media.
Babar had relinquished his captaincy in all formats following Pakistan’s unsatisfactory performance in the ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup in India the previous year, where the team did not progress to the knockout stages.
Shaheen Shah Afridi had assumed the T20I captaincy, while Shan Masood was named as the captain for red-ball cricket.
Shaheen was chosen as the T20I captain due to his impressive performances in the Pakistan Super League, leading Lahore Qalandars to back-to-back title wins in 2022 and 2023. However, Cricket Pakistan reported on March 12 that his leadership was in jeopardy after Pakistan only won one out of five matches during his inaugural series as captain in New Zealand and Lahore Qalandars ended up at the bottom of the table in the recent Pakistan Super League edition.
With Babar’s return as captain, his initial assignment will be to guide Pakistan in the forthcoming five-match T20I series against New Zealand at home, commencing from April 18.
[embedpost slug = "/watch-babar-azam-and-co-play-snooker-amid-captaincy-chaos/"]
