Sahibzada Farhan is Pakistan’s new T20I captain. He replaces Salman Ali Agha, who has been removed as captain and dropped from the squad for three home T20Is against Sri Lanka in Rawalpindi on October 9, 11 and 13.
Agha stays in the ODI squad for the October 18 to 31 tri-series with England and Sri Lanka. The PCB gave no official reason for the change.
Farhan earned the job with the bat. He scored 383 runs at the 2026 T20 World Cup, a record for a single edition, including two hundreds. He then led Pakistan to Asian Games silver, losing the final to India.
The reset goes beyond the captain. Babar Azam, Shaheen Shah Afridi and Haris Rauf are all left out of the T20Is, though all three stay in the ODI squad. Wicketkeeper Usman Khan and spinner Usman Tariq are also gone.
| Left out of T20Is | In ODI squad |
|---|---|
| Salman Ali Agha | Yes |
| Babar Azam | Yes |
| Shaheen Shah Afridi | Yes (captain) |
| Haris Rauf | Yes |
| Usman Khan | No |
| Usman Tariq | No |
T20I squad: Sahibzada Farhan (captain), Abdul Samad, Abrar Ahmed, Arafat Minhas, Fakhar Zaman, Hasan Nawaz, Khawaja Nafay, Maaz Sadaqat, Mohammad Salman Mirza, Muhammad Imran Randhawa, Naseem Shah, Razaullah, Saim Ayub, Shadab Khan, Sufiyan Moqim.
View this post on Instagram
Agha’s numbers explain the decision. They do not show how a captain’s own form quietly strips away his power to lead.
Dropping Agha is defensible. At the 2025 Asia Cup he made 72 runs in seven matches, and Pakistan finished runners-up. At the 2026 T20 World Cup they went out in the Super 8s, beating Sri Lanka by five runs when they needed to win by 65.
After that exit, Agha did not step down.
“To make a decision right now would be purely emotional. We will return home, take a couple of days, perhaps two to four, and then determine the appropriate course of action.”
Salman Ali Agha, post-match press conference after the Super 8 exit, March 1, 2026
He stayed for seven more months. The decision he put off has now been made for him.
Insider Read
A captain who is not sure of his spot in the XI is never thinking only about the team. Every selection meeting becomes partly about protecting himself. He holds back from dropping a senior player because he knows the same question is being asked about him, and the dressing room sees that hesitation before the selectors do.
In a dressing room, authority comes from the scorecard first. When the captain is the one struggling, his hard words to a bowler or a batter lose their weight. Seventy-two runs in seven matches did not only cost Pakistan runs. They cost Agha the standing to make the calls a captain must make.
Fourth Captain in Two and a Half Years
Farhan is Pakistan’s fourth T20I captain in two and a half years, and the fifth since November 2023.
| T20I captain | Appointed |
|---|---|
| Shaheen Shah Afridi | November 2023 |
| Babar Azam (second spell) | March 2024 |
| Mohammad Rizwan | October 2024 |
| Salman Ali Agha | March 2025 |
| Sahibzada Farhan | October 2026 |
Agha’s record is not a bad one. Pakistan won 31 of his 50 T20Is in charge, including series wins against Bangladesh, West Indies and Australia. He was reportedly removed because the failures came at the tournaments that matter most.
Each change is made to fix tournament results, and each new captain gets little time before the next one arrives. A team that changes its leader this often never lets anyone build the side he wants, and that instability is part of why the results do not come.
The selectors have hinted that they are building towards the 2028 T20 World Cup. Whether Farhan is still captain when it starts will say more about the PCB than about him.
Also Read
One Response