PCB have seemingly lost confidence in Shaheen Afridi's captaincy skills.
Babar Azam had taken over Pakistan team captaincy across formats in 2019 and led until the ICC World Cup 2023. However, he stepped down from leadership after Pakistan’s poor showing in the tournament amidst rumors that Babar would be removed from captaincy.
This led to the PCB naming Shan Masood as Test captain, while Shaheen Afridi was handed the T20I reins. But Pakistan lost to Australia 0-3 in the Test series down under and Shaheen Afridi’s first stint in Pakistan T20I series led to a 1-4 series defeat in New Zealand.
With Lahore Qalandars performing poorly under Shaheen's captaincy in PSL 2024, PCB chief Mohsin Naqvi along with the national selectors are set to meet with Babar and convince him to take the captaincy slot in all formats for the national cricket team.
PCB hopes Babar will take up the role of captain for T20Is and all other formats, replacing the current captain Afridi with just about two months remaining for the T20 World Cup to start. PCB wants Babar to take over till the T20 World Cup 2023, but Babar is interested in a longer stint as captain.
“The decision emerged from a late-night meeting between Chairman PCB Mohsin Naqvi and the selectors. Babar has already communicated to the PCB that he wishes to lead the national team across all formats and has kept it as a pre-condition to consider captaincy in the T20I format,” an IANS source said.
The Pakistan cricket team is currently training at the military academy Kakul in Abbottabad. Babar Azam is set to join the camp soon after he returned from Saudi Arabia after performing Hajj.