Shaheen Afridi's stint over, Babar Azam and Mohammad Rizwan recommended for Pakistan captaincy by new selection committee

Babar Azam is reportedly in contention to be reinstated as the captain of Pakistan’s white-ball teams ahead of this year’s T20 World Cup. In November last year, the right-handed batsman stepped down as the captain of the Pakistan team across all the formats following the team’s dismal performance in the ODI World Cup.

He was replaced by Shan Masood and Shaheen Afridi as the Test and T20I captains. And while Afridi has led Pakistan in only one series so far, he is reportedly in danger of losing his position as the captain of the T20I team. The Pakistan Cricket Board’s (PCB) new chief Mohsin Naqvi recently revamped the selection committee and gave them full authority on the selection of the team as well as the captain.

According to reports in Pakistan media, the selection committee has recommended the name of Babar Azam as well as Mohammad Rizwan for the white-ball captaincy. Naqvi will be taking the final call. With the T20 World Cup not very far away, a final decision is expected soon.

Babar Azam is the favorite:

As per media reports, Babar Azam is the favorite to replace Shaheen Afridi as the T20I captain. While there have been calls from several quarters to appoint Rizwan as the captain after his impressive captaincy in the recent PSL seasons, Babar Azam is ahead of the wicketkeeper-batsman in the race.

Under Babar Azam’s captaincy, Pakistan qualified for the semifinal in the 2021 T20 World Cup. In the 2022 T20 World Cup, the Men in Green made it to the final before losing to England. With the selectors throwing their support behind Babar, it won’t be surprising if he replaces Afridi, especially after the latter’s struggle as a captain in the recently concluded PSL season.

While Babar-led Peshawar Zalmi finished second in the points table, Afridi-led Lahore Qalandars finished at the bottom. On the other hand, Rizwan led Multan Sultans to the final after a first-place finish in the league stage.

Breaking: The new selection committee has sent names of Babar Azam and Mohammad Rizwan for white-ball captaincy. PCB chairman Mohsin Naqvi will decide whether to keep Shaheen Afridi as captain or not after the training camp in Abbottabad 🇵🇰✅

[Qadir Khawaja] pic.twitter.com/OZ328qczJE

— Farid Khan (@_FaridKhan) March 28, 2024

Breaking News about Selection Committee submitted report regarding Captaincy to Chairman PCB @MohsinnaqviC42 on Samaa TV

*سلیکشن کمیٹی نے کپتان کے حوالے سے تجاویز چئیرمین پی سی بی محسن نقوی کو بھجوا دیں*, سلیکشن کمیٹی نے کپتان تبدیلی کرنے یا نہ کرنے کے حوالے سے تفصیلی آگاہ کیا… pic.twitter.com/WibZPAfyK2

— Qadir Khawaja (@iamqadirkhawaja) March 28, 2024

Talking about the T20 World Cup, the tournament is scheduled to be played from June 1 to 29 in the USA and the West Indies. Pakistan is in Group A along with arch-rivals India, Ireland, Canada, and co-hosts USA.