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Struggling Pakistan reappoint Babar ahead of T20 WC

Babar stepped down as all format skipper last November after Pakistan crashed out of the ODI WC in the 1st round 

Update : 31 Mar 2024, 08:53 PM

Pakistan Cricket Board Sunday reappointed Babar Azam as white-ball captain, in the latest of a series of changes to get the team back on track for this year's Twenty20 World Cup.

Babar stepped down as all format skipper in November last year after Pakistan crashed out of the 50 over World Cup in the first round in India.

"Babar appointed white ball captain," the PCB announced on X, formerly known as Twitter.

"Following unanimous recommendation from the PCB's selection committee, chairman PCB Mohsin Naqvi has appointed Babar as white-ball (T20Is and ODIs) captain of the Pakistan cricket team."

The seven-member selection committee, which was re-organized just a week ago, recommended he should replace Shaheen Shah Afridi.

Pakistan battled a disastrous World Cup (50 overs) in India last year where they failed to qualify for the semi-finals.

Afterwards Babar stepped down from the captaincy of all formats and was replaced by Shan Masood as Test captain and Shaheen as T20I captain.

The then-head coach Mickey Arthur was replaced by team director Mohammad Hafeez under whom Pakistan suffered a 3-0 Test whitewash in Australia and 4-1 series defeat in a T20I series in New Zealand.

Pakistan will play five T20Is against New Zealand at home followed by two in Ireland and four in England before featuring in the T20 World Cup in the United States and the West Indies.

In an effort to improve results ahead of the tournament, newly appointed PCB chairman Naqvi earlier this month announced changes to its selection process, making the captain and head coach part of the process.

"We have reorganized the selection committee with seven members but the different thing is that there will be no chairman," Naqvi told a press conference, adding that each member would have "equal powers".

Fast bowler Mohammad Amir has also announced he was coming out of retirement, while all-rounder Imad Wasim reversed his own decision to retire four months ago.

Amir's precocious, stop-start career was halted in 2010 after he along with then-Pakistan Test captain Salman Butt and fellow pacer Mohammad Asif were banned for five years over a spot fixing scandal.

The team are currently on a two-week training camp at army base Kakul.

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