The Pakistan Cricket Board reappointed Babar Azam as white-ball captain on Sunday, the latest in a series of changes to get the team back on track for this year’s Twenty20 World Cup.
Azam stepped down as skipper in all formats in November after Pakistan crashed out of the 50-over World Cup in the first round in India.
“Following unanimous recommendation from the PCB’s selection committee, chairman PCB (Mohsin) Naqvi has appointed Azam as white-ball (T20Is and ODIs) captain of the Pakistan cricket team,” the board announced on social media platform X.
Azam replaces Shaheen Shah Afridi after the decision by the seven-member selection committee, which was reorganised a week ago.
He had been replaced by Shan Masood as Test captain after stepping down, as well as by Shaheen in T20Is.
Shaheen’s only T20I series in charge was the 4-1 loss in New Zealand in January.
Former head coach Mickey Arthur was also replaced after the World Cup disaster by team director Mohammad Hafeez, under whom Pakistan suffered a 3-0 Test whitewash in Australia and the T20I series loss in New Zealand.
Pakistan will play five T20Is against New Zealand at home, followed by two in Ireland and four in England, before the World Cup in the United States and the West Indies.
Naqvi, the new PCB chairman, announced changes to the board’s selection process this month in an effort to improve results before the tournament, making the captain and head coach part of the process.
“We have reorganised the selection committee with seven members but the different thing is that there will be no chairman,” Naqvi told a news conference, with each member to have “equal powers”.
Fast bowler Mohammad Amir has announced he will come out of retirement and all-rounder Imad Wasim has also reversed his decision to retire four months ago.
Amir’s stop-start career was halted in 2010 after he, former Test captain Salman Butt and fellow pacer Mohammad Asif were banned for five years over a spot-fixing scandal.
The team are currently on a two-week training camp at an army base in Kakul.
Cricket-mad Pakistan fans welcomed Azam back as skipper.
“No one could stop… no one succeeded in stopping (him), Babar Azam is back as skipper,” Azam Awan said on X.
Another fan, Memoona Bhatti, congratulated Azam on his return.
“Pls don’t accommodate non-performing friends, you are the face of Pakistan cricket, may you bring home the T20 Cup,” she wrote on X.
Azam won 42 of his 71 T20Is as skipper from 2019, with 23 losses with six no results, but was accused of favouring friends in team selection.
“We will have to see how this decision impacts Pakistan team’s performance, but I think Azam should be given long-term captaincy,” former wicketkeeper-batter Kamran Akmal told AFP.
“Azam is a serious captain, so I don’t think there will be any rift in the team.”
Former Pakistan skipper Shahid Afridi, whose daughter is married to Shaheen, had expressed anger during the week over the captaincy confusion.
“I think that if you have appointed someone as captain and given him the responsibility, then give him time as well,” Afridi told reporters on Tuesday.
sh/pbt
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