The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) on Monday confirmed the appointment of opening batter Sahibzada Farhan as the new T20I captain, and he’ll take over the reins from Salman Ali Agha, under whom the Green Shirts failed to do anything substantial in the Asia Cup and the T20 World Cup.
Apart from being removed as the captain, Agha has also been dropped from the squad for the upcoming series against Sri Lanka.
Babar Azam, Shaheen Shah Afridi and Haris Rauf have been dropped from the T20I squad, while the trio were named in the ODI squad for the Tri-Series against England and Sri Lanka.
Recently, Sahibzada led Pakistan at the Asian Games, taking his team to the final, only to fall short against India in the gold-medal match. Speedster Shaheen might have been dropped from the T20I squad, but he’ll continue to lead the team in ODIs. Moreover, Usman Khan, the Pakistan wicketkeeper-batter, has also been dropped from the T20I team following his lacklustre effort behind the stumps in the Asian Games final against India.
Razaullah, who emerged as the hero for Pakistan in the third and final Test against England, smashing nine sixes, was also named in the two squads, which happens to be his maiden call-up in a white-ball team.
Know more about the schedule
The T20I series between Pakistan and Sri Lanka will be played at the Rawalpindi Cricket Stadium, with the opening match scheduled for October 9. The second and third T20Is will be played on October 11 and 13, respectively.
Following the T20I series, Pakistan will feature in a seven-match ODI tri-series alongside England and Sri Lanka. Rawalpindi will host the opening three matches, before the tournament moves to Lahore for the remaining league matches and the final.
15-member T20I squad: Sahibzada Farhan (captain), Abdul Samad, Abrar Ahmed, Arafat Minhas, Fakhar Zaman, Hasan Nawaz, Khawaja Nafay (wk), Maaz Sadaqat, Mohammad Salman Mirza, Muhammad Imran Randhawa, Naseem Shah, Razaullah, Saim Ayub, Shadab Khan and Sufiyan Moqim
16-member ODI squad: Shaheen Shah Afridi (captain), Abrar Ahmed, Arafat Minhas, Babar Azam, Faheem Ashraf, Fakhar Zaman, Haris Rauf, Hasan Nawaz, Muhammad Ghazi Ghori (wk), Naseem Shah, Razaullah, Saad Baig (wk), Saim Ayub, Salman Ali Agha, Shadab Khan and Sufiyan Moqim