Sahibzada Farhan Appointed Pakistan T20I Captain Ahead of Sri Lanka Series

Pakistan have announced a leadership change in T20I cricket ahead of their upcoming series against Sri Lanka, with Sahibzada Farhan appointed as the new captain. The 30‑year‑old opener takes over from Salman Ali Agha, who led Pakistan during the T20 World Cup earlier this year. Agha has been omitted from the 15‑player squad for the series, which gets underway on October 9.

The appointment offers Farhan a chance to build on an impressive year in the shortest format, following his recent role in guiding Pakistan to a silver medal at the Asian Games.

Sahibzada Farhan takes over Pakistan’s T20I captaincy

Farhan’s promotion follows a productive T20 World Cup campaign in which he topped Pakistan’s run‑scoring chart with 383 runs. His consistent performances at the top of the order have earned him the captaincy as Pakistan embark on a new phase of their T20I setup.

The right‑handed batter also captained Pakistan at the recently concluded Asian Games, where the team claimed a silver medal. Several members of that Asian Games squad have kept their spots in the senior T20I lineup, namely Abdul Samad, Saim Ayub, Hasan Nawaz and Mohammad Salman Mirza. Nawaz will also be in the spotlight after scoring 96 in the Asian Games final against India.

Farhan left out of Pakistan’s ODI squad

Despite being named T20I captain, Farhan has been omitted from Pakistan’s ODI squad. Shaheen Shah Afridi will captain the 16‑player ODI side in the upcoming tri‑series featuring Pakistan, Sri Lanka and England.

The move creates an interesting split in Pakistan’s leadership and selection strategies across the two white‑ball formats. The ODI squad features Babar Azam, Salman Ali Agha, Haris Rauf and several other players.

A number of players who were part of Pakistan’s most recent ODI series have also been left out. Samad, Rohail Nazir, Shamyl Hussain, Maaz Sadaqat and Ahmed Daniyal are among those omitted following Pakistan’s 2‑1 series win over Australia in January.

While Pakistan’s immediate focus is the T20I series against Sri Lanka, the ODI squad will soon shift its attention to the tri‑series involving Sri Lanka and England. The competition gets underway on October 18 and will be played in a double round‑robin format, with the top two sides meeting in the final on October 31 at Lahore’s Gaddafi Stadium.

Pakistan’s T20I squad for Sri Lanka series: Sahibzada Farhan (c), Abdul Samad, Abrar Ahmed, Arafat Minhas, Fakhar Zaman, Hasan Nawaz, Khawaja Nafay (wk), Maaz Sadaqat, Mohammad Salman Mirza, Muhammad Imran Randhawa, Naseem Shah, Razaullah, Saim Ayub, Shadab Khan, Sufiyan Moqim

Pakistan’s ODI squad for tri-series: Shaheen Shah Afridi (c), Abrar Ahmed, Arafat Minhas, Babar Azam, Faheem Ashraf, Fakhar Zaman, Haris Rauf, Hasan Nawaz, Muhammad Ghazi Ghori (wk), Naseem Shah, Razaullah, Saad Baig (wk), Saim Ayub, Salman Ali Agha, Shadab Khan, Sufiyan Moqim.

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