Star batsman Babar Azam has been reinstated as the captain of Pakistan's white-ball cricket team ahead of the upcoming T20I series against New Zealand on home turf.
The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) made the announcement on X (formerly Twitter), stating that Babar Azam has been appointed as the captain for both ODI and T20I formats following a unanimous recommendation from the PCB's selection committee, with Chairman PCB Mohsin Naqvi endorsing the decision.
ESPN Cricinfo previously reported that Babar Azam had requested the PCB to appoint him as the captain across all three formats if he were to consider returning to the role.
Following the conclusion of the ICC World Cup 2023, Babar Azam was relieved of the captaincy in all formats, with Shaheen Afridi leading the shorter formats and Shan Masood appointed Test captain, while no captain was named for ODIs.
The decision to replace Shaheen Afridi as the captain for the shorter format came after Pakistan suffered a 4-1 defeat in the T20I series against New Zealand under his leadership.
Under Shan Masood's captaincy in the red-ball format, Pakistan faced Australia in December 2023 and lost the series 3-0.
Babar Azam has previously led Pakistan in five international tournaments, including the T20 World Cups of 2021 and 2022, the Asia Cups of 2022 and 2023, and the World Cup 2023. However, Pakistan has not secured any ICC or Asia Cup titles under his leadership.
