After replacing Shan Masood, Babar Azam expected to take over as Pakistan’s T20I captain

The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) had been discussing handing the Pakistan men’s cricket team’s captaincy in T20Is back to Babar Azam. The 31-year-old was named the Test skipper, replacing Shan Masood, on July 1, and now there’s a possibility of Babar taking over from Salman Ali Agha in T20Is.

Babar Azam to return as Pakistan’s T20I captain

This merry-go-round of captaincy changes has been a constant in Pakistan cricket but has picked up pace after Babar resigned as the all-format captain in November 2023, having done the job for 3 years. Babar’s return as Test skipper has meant that the Men in Green have made changes to the leadership 7 times across formats.

Since May, reports have been emerging that Agha will be sacked as Pakistan’s T20I captain. It was believed that he was named skipper as a stopgap solution, and after the Asia Cup 2025 and T20 World Cup 2026, the PCB felt it was time to move on from him. However, there was no clear candidate to take over.

According to Daily Ausaf, after the PCB has decided to name Babar as Masood’s replacement, the board doesn’t have any issue with handing him the leadership of the T20I team. From 2019 to 2024, Babar led Pakistan in 85 matches and won 48 matches. The most for any Pakistani skipper in the format.

He took Pakistan to the semifinal of the T20 World Cup 2021, losing to eventual champions Australia. In the next edition, in 2022, they lost to England. During that period, Pakistan were perhaps the best T20I team, and Babar was perhaps the best batter. Pakistan will hope his reappointment brings back the success. Babar did return as captain in March 2024 but resigned shortly after.

Pakistan’s captaincy merry-go-round

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