(Reuters) – Babar Azam has been appointed as Pakistan’s white-ball captain, a position he previously held before stepping down as all-format captain after the team’s disappointing performance at the World Cup in India.
Following their failure to advance to the knockout stage of the 50-overs World Cup, Babar made the decision to resign from the captaincy.
As a result, Shaheen Afridi was placed in charge of the T20 squad, while Shan Masood was named captain of the test team.
“After receiving a unanimous recommendation from the PCB’s selection committee, Chairman Mohsin Naqvi has chosen Babar Azam to lead the Pakistan men’s cricket team in white-ball cricket,” announced the Pakistan Cricket Board on X, formerly known as Twitter.
During Afridi’s tenure as captain, Pakistan suffered a 4-1 defeat in a T20 series against New Zealand earlier this year.
Babar will kick off his new role with a five-match home T20 series against New Zealand next month, but will face a significant challenge in leading the team in the upcoming 20-overs World Cup in June.
(Reporting by Amlan Chakraborty in New Delhi; Editing by Kim Coghill)
