Pakistan have cycled through four captains in T20Is since the start of 2024. If there is one thing Pakistan have adhered to consistently, it is inconsistency. Mohammad Rizwan’s appointment as the skipper, at least, did look like the last entry through the revolving door for some time to come. But turns out a dismal title defense was all it took for the PCB to turn towards someone new once again. Salman Ali Agha is that someone. For how long will he stay? No one can say. But while he is here, Agha wants to introduce a high-risk brand of cricket, something that others before him talked about too, but none stayed long enough to witness it being realized.
“It’s an honour for me and also a challenge,” Agha said at a press conference where Pakistan announced their squads for the upcoming New Zealand tour. “We’ve brought a few youngsters into the team who have been playing the brand of cricket in domestic cricket that we want to play in the national side going forward.”
“We have to focus on our intent and approach. We have to improve that. In modern day cricket, these things are important. This is a young team and we want to play fearless cricket. That is high-risk cricket, which is a requirement in modern cricket. There will be failures with that approach, but we have to support our players.”
Agha is not the only, and by no means the most news-breaking, change in Pakistan’s T20I side, which will face New Zealand a week after the Champions Trophy Final. Both Babar Azam and Mohammad Rizwan have been dropped from the side, apparently to let the youngsters take on the rebuilding job with a new ‘style of play,’ as explained by Aaqib.
“For the moment, we feel that we need to bring in newer, younger players and change the style of cricket we are playing,” he said. “Many teams have separated their T20 sides from the others, up to 80-90% [of the personnel] different.”
Shadab Khan, who was dropped from the team following his botched T20 World Cup campaign last year, has earned a call back, that too, as Agha’s deputy. Aaqib believes his leadership skills make him a good choice to assist Salman Ali Agha in his new role.
“The reason for Shadab coming back is that he has good captaincy experience, plus also his mindset is to play aggressive cricket. His mindset is important because as vice-captain, with Agha also thinking that way, Shadab will be good. The combination is good,” Aaqib Javed said.
In addition to Babar and Rizwan, Haris Rauf and Shaheen Shah Afridi also find themselves axed, albeit from the ODI lineup. In their absence, Pakistan will have to overhaul their entire bowling lineup, but this task isn’t as pressing as building up their best squad for the upcoming T20-format Asia Cup in September and the T20 World Cup next year. Both Aaqib Javed and Salman Ali Agha want to build their bench strength to avoid crumbling in yet another high-stakes event.
But that will hardly be possible without bringing stability to the Pakistan cricket circuit. Aaqib realizes that. He knows that it’s the most significant crisis that Pakistan are faced with right now. Players need a sense of security to perform and work on long-term plans, and that can only be ensured by a system that does not sway with every passing storm. .
“We have changed nearly 16 coaches and 26 selectors in the last two years or so. You put that formula on any team in the world, I think they will also be in the same situation. Until you get consistency right from the top down to the bottom, from the chairman down, then your team will not progress.”
Pakistan squads for New Zealand tour:
T20I squad – Salman Ali Agha (captain), Shadab Khan (vice-captain), Abdul Samad, Abrar Ahmed, Haris Rauf, Hasan Nawaz, Jahandad Khan, Khushdil Shah, Mohammad Abbas Afridi, Mohammad Ali, Mohammad Haris, Muhammad Irfan Khan, Omair Bin Yousaf, Shaheen Shah Afridi, Sufyan Moqim and Usman Khan
ODI squad – Mohammad Rizwan (captain), Salman Ali Agha (vice-captain), Abdullah Shafique, Abrar Ahmed, Akif Javed, Babar Azam, Faheem Ashraf, Imam-ul-Haq, Khushdil Shah, Mohammad Ali, Mohammad Wasim Jnr, Muhammad Irfan Khan, Naseem Shah, Sufyan Moqim and Tayyab Tahir.
A wicketkeeper/batter is to be added to the ODI squad following the conclusion of the T20I leg of the tour.
