Shan Masood to lead Pakistan Test team, Shaheen Afridi named T20 captain

The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) has appointed Shan Masood as the Test captain of the Men’s Cricket Team, while Shaheen Shah Afridi has been named T20I skipper after Babar Azam stepped down from captaincy role on Wednesday.

34-year-old Shan has featured in 30 Tests, scoring 1,597 runs, which includes four centuries and seven half-centuries.

Shan has been appointed captain till the end of the ICC World Test Championship 2023-25. Shan will be leading the Pakistan side for a three-match Test series against Australia starting from Dec.14.

Meanwhile, left-arm pacer Shaheen Shah will lead Pakistan Men’s Team in the T20I format and will lead the side for a five-match T20I series in New Zealand starting from Jan.12.

23-year-old Shaheen has bagged 64 wickets in 52 T20Is. Shaheen has also captained Lahore Qalandars in HBL PSL and has helped the side win the tournament twice in two years in the 2022 and 2023 editions. Pakistan’s captain in the ODI format will be announced in due course.

The PCB has sacked the entire national selection committee following their team disappointing show at the ICC World Cup in India, reports said.

The crisis in PCB began after the poor performance in the ongoing World Cup as the Babar Azam-led Pakistan team faced back to back loss after a good start in the tournament.

Earlier, Pakistan’s chief of selectors Inzamam-ul-Haq resigned from his post on Monday over allegations of a conflict of interest linked to the team’s poor performance.

Soon after the exit from the tournament, bowling coach Morne Morkel resigned from the post.

However, now latest reports suggesting that Team Director Mickey Arthur, Head Coach Grant Bradburn, and Batting Coach Andrew Puttick face potential removal.

Insider information suggests the PCB is inclined towards hiring domestic coaches for the national team.

Reports also stated that Shahid Afridi is poised to take the helm of the selection committee, and Younis Khan is likely to join as the team's batting coach.

Indo-Asian News Service