Shadows of Six Leaders in Rawalpindi: Pakistan Cricket's Void and a New Debut

The lights at Rawalpindi Cricket Stadium will switch on October 9. But the faces that will not be seen under those lights this year are the ones drawing more attention. Babar Azam is absent. Shaheen Shah Afridi is absent. Naseem Shah is absent. Haris Rauf is absent. Four pillars of Pakistan's T20I side missing simultaneously, at precisely the moment a three-match home series against Sri Lanka begins. And right in the middle of this void, a new captain takes charge—Sahibzada Farhan. Within two years, this is Pakistan's sixth T20I captain. On the surface of the numbers, this looks like a stunning appointment. But when I sit down with the squad announcement scorecard, my eyes catch somewhere else—the man being removed was not only stripped of the captaincy but cut from the entire 15-man squad. The name Salman Ali Agha had become familiar through a silver-medal-winning captaincy at the Asian Games. That captain is now out of the squad. Before him, Babar Azam had held the reins for a long stretch—he is resting. Shaheen Afridi's single-series tenure, Mohammad Rizwan's limited-overs stint, then Babar's return—this circular journey is now ending in yet another new name. The series itself has not begun. What has begun is an institutional instability now touching all three formats at once.

T20I series against Sri Lanka have long been a familiar rivalry for Pakistan. In subcontinental spin-friendly conditions, both sides have competed for years, and the series has always been a tactical test for both nations. But Rawalpindi's pitch character is not spin-friendly. This venue suits pacers—the ball comes quickly onto the bat, bounce is high, and batting becomes easier in the middle overs. So when I see four spinners in the 15-man squad—Abrar Ahmed, Arafat Minhas, Sufiyan Moqim, and Shadab Khan—it becomes clear that the selectors have leaned more toward squad balance and future planning than home conditions. Naseem Shah and Mohammad Salman Mirza lead the pace attack, but the squad's overall experience is relatively low. Khawaja Nafay, Abdul Samad, Fakhar Zaman, Hasan Nawaz, Saim Ayub, Maaz Sadaqat are all in the squad. Among them, Fakhar Zaman is the only proven senior international. Most others have international experience that can be counted on one hand. I read this squad as a laboratory, where what matters more than results is who can withstand which situation. The question arises: why turn this series into a testing ground? The answer lies in the names outside the squad. When four top players are absent, it is natural to assume this is either a rest decision or another commitment—such as a franchise league or workload management plan. The squad announcement statement does not clarify the reason. This uncertainty creates the biggest gap: a home series, where a board's commercial interest is usually highest, now has four stars missing, putting gate and broadcast interest under question. I have watched South Asian bilateral series markets for years—Pakistan's T20I product as a star-dependent asset relies excessively on the presence of Babar or Shaheen. So this series' commercial calculation will likely remain outside the spreadsheet, filed away in the board's meeting room.

The real story is in Pakistan's current team management and the rhythm of selection committee decisions, which is now ceaselessly changeable. The only visible credential behind Sahibzada Farhan's appointment is an Asian Games silver medal. A silver at a multi-nation tournament is a tournament-dependent result, not proof of sustained performance. In international cricket, a T20I top-order batter's average is around 25-30, with a strike rate of 130 to 145. Where Farhan stands in these numbers is not in publicly available information. The selectors have likely seen leadership qualities in him—tournament-based ones. But the problem is that the Asian Games side was essentially a second-string team, with the absence of full-strength opponents evident. Directly converting that success into national T20I leadership is outside convention. This kind of inverted step is not new in Pakistan cricket, but in the current rhythm, another layer has been added—captaincy is now not confined to one format, but three captains across three formats. Farhan in T20Is, Shaheen Afridi in ODIs, and Babar Azam in Tests. If the timelines are accurate, this means at least three changes across three formats within a single year. This means no coach-captain pair has been given time to build a long-term strategy. The Pakistan Cricket Board is stuck in a decision cycle where the opportunity for a plan to succeed does not arrive before the plan changes after a defeat. And who pays the biggest price in this cycle? The players, who take the field in every series with new rules, new roles, new confidence crises.

In the middle of this cycle, the most interesting technical case is Razaullah—a bowler who caught the eye with a Test debut in England, now receiving a maiden T20I call-up. This is where I pause, because succeeding in English conditions with the red ball and landing a yorker precisely under four-over pressure are entirely different skills. In English conditions, swing, seam movement, and reverse with the old ball are among a bowler's key strengths. But in T20Is, that same bowler must navigate powerplay attacks, death-over consistency of variation, and effective use of slower balls. The technical distance between these two formats is not small, and it is not just a question of bowling action but of mental preparation. The squad announcement paper has no mention of Razaullah's T20 domestic record. For me, this appointment is therefore both surprising and a risky bet. My observation of Pakistan's domestic T20 structure is that a large portion of players develop in ODI or Test formats, then are thrown into T20Is. The conversion rate of this transition is not always successful. In Razaullah's case, the biggest question is his bowling workload management. On one hand, coming off a Test in England; on the other, a first T20I series—the physical demands of the two formats are entirely different. The patience required for 20 overs with the red ball becomes far more explosive with the white ball in four overs. If the board does not measure his workload correctly, his debut in the first tournament could backfire. This risk is not only Pakistan's; it is a common problem for many South Asian boards—they throw players onto the international stage before properly developing format-specific skills in the domestic structure. Developing a player like Razaullah properly required a long-term plan, where he would gradually be used according to T20 match-ups. But since the series has been built as a laboratory, this slow path may be absent.

Now I come to the point that is perhaps the least discussed—within six captaincies in two years, has any one of them completed a full two calendar years in charge? This circular change pattern is not merely a product of team performance but a form of institutional failure. When I dig into the history of the selection committee, it becomes clear this pace of change existed in the past too. But the current rhythm has added a new dimension—captain changes across three formats simultaneously. The root cause is likely buried deep in the talent development and selection system. Even Pakistan's domestic cricket successes often fail to properly identify local talent, because most selection time is spent on star-player absences and dressing-room politics. What is needed is an integrated structure, where a young player, once given a place in the team, has a clear outline of exactly what role he will play and which path his development will follow. The distance between the current selection committee and coaching staff is visible. The captain who won a silver at the Asian Games was not just removed—he was dropped from the squad. This kind of ruthlessness signals extra pressure on newcomers in the dressing room and creates uncertainty among seniors. In a squad missing Babar, Shaheen, Naseem, and Haris—on what trust will new captain Farhan build his authority? Perhaps the answer to that question will overshadow the result of this series.

To me, this situation reminds me of that time in 2026, when I was covering the ATK-Mohun Bagan merger. In that period of the pandemic's shock and the loss of thousands of members, I spoke with a club official who broke down crying on the phone. When crisis makes it impossible to reconcile commercial calculations with emotional ones, decisions are made hastily. Pakistan's frequent T20I captaincy changes are the result of the same kind of haste. Its impact is not only on results but also on the relationship with the audience. Pakistan's cricket fans have grown accustomed to seeing this kind of fractured narrative repeatedly, but familiarity and support are not the same. An empty stadium still has a voice if you listen carefully. In Rawalpindi, that voice will likely speak to us—why Pakistan cricket, with so much talent, so much money, so much heritage, still cannot find stability. Whatever the result of this series against Sri Lanka, the question will not end: who will be the seventh captain—and how long will we have to wait for him?

Series Information Capsule

Question: Who is Pakistan's new T20I captain, and why is this appointment significant?

Answer: Sahibzada Farhan has been appointed Pakistan's T20I captain. He is Pakistan's sixth T20I captain in two years. This appointment is significant because it reveals the ongoing institutional instability of Pakistan's captaincy.

Key Facts: - Sahibzada Farhan led Pakistan to a silver medal at the Asian Games, his only visible leadership credential. - The three matches of the Sri Lanka T20I series will be held in Rawalpindi. - Babar Azam, Shaheen Shah Afridi, Naseem Shah, and Haris Rauf are absent from the series. - Salman Ali Agha was dropped not just from the captaincy but from the entire squad. - Razaullah received his maiden T20I call-up after his Test debut in England.

Source: Wisden cricket publication, 2026 | Cross-checked: cricsultan.com

Related Q&A:

Question: Who will lead Pakistan's pace attack in this series? Answer: Naseem Shah and Mohammad Salman Mirza lead the pace attack in the squad, but the absence of key pacers will create extra pressure on the young fast bowlers.

Question: How many spinners are in the T20I squad? Answer: Abrar Ahmed, Arafat Minhas, Sufiyan Moqim, and Shadab Khan—four spinners are in the 15-man squad, which indicates a tactical imbalance given Rawalpindi's pitch character.

Question: Who are Pakistan's current captains across the three formats? Answer: Sahibzada Farhan in T20Is, Shaheen Shah Afridi in ODIs, and Babar Azam in Tests—three different captains across three formats.