Babar Azam Reappointed as Pakistan's White-Ball Captain Ahead of T20 World Cup

Two months before the T20 World Cup, Pakistan's white-ball captain, star batsman Babar Azam, was reappointed on Sunday.

Fast bowler Shaheen Shah Afridi is replaced as the T20 captain by Babar. After only one series, in which Pakistan lost 1-4 to New Zealand in January, the pacer was taken out.

Following a unanimous recommendation from the Pakistan Cricket Board's (PCB) selection committee, Babar was reinstated.

"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," the PCB said in a press statement.

Babar apparently wanted to be named Test side captain and requested guarantees about his stay at a recent meeting with PCB Chief Naqvi in Lahore.

Naqvi, however, reaffirmed the board's position, saying that while Babar will be given a fair shot in the white-ball formats, a decision about the Test leadership would be taken later, according to a trustworthy source inside the PCB.

The red ball team is presently being led by Shan Masood.

"Naqvi made it clear to Babar that PCB will decide on the Test captaincy after appointing the red ball foreign coach and Pakistan has no Test commitments until after the World Cup," said a source.

Babar had resigned as captain of all three formats after a lackluster performance in November of last year at the ODI World Cup in India.

After being informed that he would only be leading the Test squad going forward and would no longer be captain of the white-ball forms, he had given up his position by then PCB Chief Zaka Ashraf.

Pakistan made it to the Australia final of the 2022 T20 World Cup when Babar was captain. In the USA and the West Indies, the most recent iteration of the prestigious tournament will kick off on June 1.

The announcement, according to the source, came after Shaheen met with selectors Muhammad Yousuf, Asad Shafiq, Wahab Riaz, Abdul Razzaq, and Bilal Afzal on Saturday night at the Kakul training camp. They told him that they wanted him to concentrate on his bowling and that they thought it was preferable if a batter led the white ball teams.

According to insiders, Shaheen didn't argue much and accepted the move, although he did feel that it was unfair to evaluate him based just on one series.

The source claims that Shaheen's poor leadership of the Lahore Qalandars in the Pakistan Super League, which led to their last-place finish, and his own patchy play were major reasons in the decision to dismiss him.

The source said, "The PCB Chairman had made it clear to the selectors that they would be held accountable for the national team's future performances and that they should choose the captain."