Sahibzada Farhan to lead Pakistan T20I side against Sri Lanka; Shaheen Afridi retains ODI captaincy

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Sahibzada Farhan celebrates after scoring a century (100 runs) during the 2026 ICC Men’s T20 Cricket World Cup group stage match between Pakistan and Namibia at the Sinhalese Sports Club (SSC) Ground in Colombo on February 18, 2026. — AFP/File
Sahibzada Farhan celebrates after scoring a century (100 runs) during the 2026 ICC Men’s T20 Cricket World Cup group stage match between Pakistan and Namibia at the Sinhalese Sports Club (SSC) Ground in Colombo on February 18, 2026. — AFP/File

Sahibzada Farhan will lead Pakistan in the three-match T20I series against Sri Lanka, while Shaheen Shah Afridi has retained the ODI captaincy for the subsequent tri-series involving England and Sri Lanka, the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) announced on Monday.

The T20Is will be played at the Rawalpindi Cricket Stadium on Oct 9, 11 and 13 before Pakistan host England and Sri Lanka in a seven-match ODI tri-series.

The first three matches of the tri-series will be played in Rawalpindi, with the tournament then moving to Lahore for the remaining league matches and the final.

Farhan, who captained Pakistan at the recently concluded Asian Games in Japan, takes over the T20I captaincy from Salman Ali Agha, who has been omitted from the shortest format. Salman, however, remains part of the ODI squad.

The T20I squad also does not include Babar Azam and Shaheen, with the two retained for the ODI assignment.

The 15-member squad includes uncapped all-rounders Razaullah and Mohammad Imran Randhawa. Razaullah recently made an impact on his Test debut against England, scoring 81 off 63 balls with nine sixes and taking four wickets.

Randhawa, who also made his Test debut during the England series, has been included as a medium-pace bowling all-rounder.

Maaz Sadaqat has retained his place after featuring prominently Pakistan’s Asian Games campaign, while Abdul Samad returns to the T20I side after last representing Pakistan in the format in March 2025.

Hasan Nawaz has also been rewarded for his performances at the Asian Games, where he was Pakistan’s leading batter and finished the tournament as its highest run-scorer with 123 runs.

He made 96 off 51 balls, including five fours and seven sixes, in Pakistan’s defeat by India in the final as the team settled for the silver medal.

Fast bowler Naseem Shah returns to the T20I squad after last playing the format for Pakistan against Sri Lanka in February 2026.

Shadab Khan, Fakhar Zaman, Saim Ayub and Abrar Ahmed are among the other established players in the squad.

The 16-member ODI squad, meanwhile, retains a more experienced core under Shaheen, with Babar, Salman, Haris Rauf and Faheem Ashraf included.

Hasan also returns to the ODI setup, and so does Razaullah.

Wicket-keeper-batter Saad Baig, the former Pakistan Under-19 captain who scored more than 1,000 runs in the 2025-26 Quaid-e-Azam Trophy, has earned his maiden ODI call-up.

Left-arm wrist-spinner Sufiyan Moqim is the other notable addition, while Mohammad Ghazi Ghori is also included as a wicket-keeper-batter.

The PCB also announced a change to the coaching staff, with former Australia fast bowler Shaun Tait returning as bowling coach in a consultancy capacity.

Tait previously served as Pakistan’s bowling coach during 2022-23 and will replace Ashley Noffke, who stepped down following the Asian Games to take up the head coach’s position with the Netherlands.

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