The Pakistan Cricket Board-led by the newly-appointed chairman Mohsin Naqvi has reappointed Babar Azam as the white-ball (ODIs and T20Is) captain of the senior men's team ahead of the ICC Men's T20 World Cup in the USA and the West Indies.
PCB took to the social media platform X to announce Babar's reappointment as the skipper of the ODI and the T20I side. Notably, Babar's reappointment has brought an abrupt end to Shaheen Shah Afridi's brief stint as the captain of the T20I side.
"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 Pakistan men's cricket team," read PCB's cation.
Shaheen Shah Afridi was appointed as T20I captain on November 15 and only managed to lead Pakistan once in the shortest format of the game. He led Pakistan during a five-match T20I series in New Zealand against the Blackcaps which ended on a disappointing note for the 2009 T20 World Cup winners.
Pakistan lost four games on the bounce and were gaping at a 5-0 white-wash before a 42-run victory in the fifth and final T20I of the series helped them salvage their pride. While the team recorded a poor outing, Shaheen was able to showcase a decent performance as he bagged nine wickets in the series and finished as the second-leading wicket-taker behind Tim Southee (10 wickets).
The left-arm seamer also recorded a forgettable outing as captain of Lahore Qalandars in the Pakistan Super League season 9. The defending champions, Qalandars, could only manage to win a solitary game during the season and lost eight to finish at the bottom of the points table.
Shaheen snared 14 wickets during the season and finished as the leading wicket-taker for Lahore.
