Sahibzada Farhan named Pakistan’s T20 captain as Naseem Shah returns
Salman Agha axed before T20 home series against Sri Lanka, but Shaheen Shah Afridi is retained as ODI captain.
Sahibzada Farhan has replaced Salman Ali Agha as Pakistan’s Twenty20 cricket captain, ushering in changes to the leadership and squad for the upcoming three-match home series against Sri Lanka.
Farhan led Pakistan to a silver-medal finish at the Asian Games, losing to India in the final on Sunday.
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Batter Hasan Nawaz and fast bowler Naseem Shah were recalled to the T20 squad.
Nawaz had been out of favour since November, but in the Asian Games final he hit 96 and was out off the final ball as Pakistan lost by 19 runs.
Shah last played in the shortest format at the T20 World Cup in February. He was also added to the one-day international squad for the following tri-series with Sri Lanka and England.
Rising star Razaullah was rewarded for his impressive performance on his Test debut against England last month in Birmingham and was included in the T20 and ODI squads. He is yet to make his white-ball debut.
Fast bowler Shaheen Afridi was retained as ODI captain of a team that included Agha and Babar Azam.
But the selectors ignored Mohammad Rizwan because the wicketkeeper was under investigation by the National Cyber Crime Investigation Authority. Rizwan was one of the seven players who were summoned home after Pakistan lost the second Test to England at Lord’s in August.
Khawaja Nafay was the specialist wicketkeeper for the T20s while Ghazi Ghori, who made his Test debut in England, was the first-choice gloveman for the ODIs.
Rawalpindi will host the three Sri Lanka T20s from October 9-13. The tri-series begins on October 18.
Tait back as bowling coach
Former Australian fast bowler Shaun Tait was named as Pakistan’s bowling coach after his recent stint with the Bangladesh team. Under Tait, Bangladesh beat Pakistan 2-0 in the Test series this year.
Tait replaced Ashley Noffke, who has been contracted by the Netherlands.
Pakistan T20 squad: Sahibzada Farhan (captain), Abdul Samad, Abrar Ahmed, Arafat Minhas, Fakhar Zaman, Hasan Nawaz, Muhammad Imran Randhawa, Khawaja Nafay, Maaz Sadaqat, Naseem Shah, Razaullah, Saim Ayub, Mohammad Salman Mirza, Shadab Khan, Sufiyan Moqim.
Pakistan ODI squad: Shaheen Shah Afridi (captain), Abrar Ahmed, Salman Ali Agha, Arafat Minhas, Babar Azam, Faheem Ashraf, Fakhar Zaman, Ghazi Ghori, Haris Rauf, Hasan Nawaz, Naseem Shah, Razaullah, Saad Baig, Saim Ayub, Shadab Khan, Sufiyan Moqim.
