On Wednesday the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) appointed Babar Azam as the new captain of the nation’s ODI, replacing former incumbent Sarafarz Ahmed. He will now lead the limited-overs side of Pakistan in season 2020-21.
PCB made the announcement when the list of nationally contracted players was being released.
PCB stated through a media release that while Azahar Ali would remain as the captain of the Test side of Pakistan, Babar was given the extra responsibility of leading the ODI side in addition to being the T20I captain.
Misbah-ul-Haq, national team chief selector and head coach said, “I would like to congratulate Azhar Ali and Babar Azam on receiving extensions to captaincy. This is completely the right decision, as their future positions do need consistency and clarification. I’m sure they’re going to start looking to the future now and start preparing so they can develop teams that can perform at the anticipated level.”
Pakistan is scheduled to play in several games in the upcoming season, including: two T20Is in Ireland (July), three Tests and three T20Is in England (July-September), three ODIs and three T20Is in South Africa (October), three ODIs and three T20Is home games with Zimbabwe (November), two Tests and three T20Is in New Zealand (December), two Tests and three T20Is home games with South Africa (January 2021) , and two Tests and three T20Is in Zimbabwe (April 2021).
In addition, Pakistan will also be a part of the Asia Cup T20 tournament and Australia’s ICC T20 Men’s World Cup 2020.
