LAHORE: The Pakistan Cricket Board’s (PCB) communication strategy continues to baffle. On Monday at 10:15pm, it announced Shaheen Shah Afridi as the new ODI captain, replacing Mohammad Rizwan — a move that potentially unsettled the Test side’s dressing-room environment. Then, on Thursday morning at 9:15am — just 45 minutes before the start of a crucial fourth day’s play with Pakistan fighting to save the Test — the PCB released the white-ball squads for the upcoming series against South Africa.

In both instances, one element remained consistent: no explanation, clarification, or justification accompanied the announcements. This only reinforces the perception that the cricket administrators are either unwilling to share their thought process, vision, and strategy — or simply have none to offer for decisions that appear arbitrary and confusing.

A case in point is the recall of Babar Azam to the T20I squad. The immediate question is: on what performance basis has he been recalled after last featuring in his 128th T20I against South Africa in December 2024?

Since that match, Babar has only participated in PSL 2025, scoring 228 runs at an average of 36 and a strike rate of 128.57. He missed the bilateral series against Bangladesh and the West Indies, the tri-series featuring Afghanistan and the UAE, as well as the ACC Asia Cup.

Head coach Mike Hesson had publicly stated before the Asia Cup that Babar needed to work on improving his strike rate to merit a recall. It remains unclear where Babar worked on this aspect, yet he has returned to the side without any recent T20 outings.

Equally puzzling is why he was dropped in the first place if the selectors were going to bring him back without any intervening performances.

Even more surprising is that Babar replaces Fakhar Zaman, who has been demoted to the reserves list for the home series. Haris Rauf and Sufiyan Moqim, members of the 17-player Asia Cup squad, have also been moved to the reserves.

Besides Fakhar, Haris, and Sufiyan, Hasan Ali, Hussain Talat, Khushdil Shah, and Mohammad Haris have been left out. Meanwhile, Naseem Shah, Usman Khan, and uncapped players Abdul Samad and Usman Tariq join the 15-player T20I squad.

The T20I series will begin in Rawalpindi on 28 October, while the three ODIs will be staged in Faisalabad on 4, 6, and 8 November.

15-member T20I squad: Salman Ali Agha (captain), Abdul Samad, Abrar Ahmed, Babar Azam, Faheem Ashraf, Hasan Nawaz, Mohammad Nawaz, Mohammad Wasim Jnr, Mohammad Salman Mirza, Naseem Shah, Sahibzada Farhan, Saim Ayub, Shaheen Shah Afridi, Usman Khan (wicketkeeper), Usman Tariq.

Reserves: Fakhar Zaman, Haris Rauf, Sufiyan Moqim.

16-member ODI squad: Shaheen Shah Afridi (captain), Abrar Ahmed, Babar Azam, Faheem Ashraf, Faisal Akram, Fakhar Zaman, Haris Rauf, Haseebullah, Hasan Nawaz, Hussain Talat, Mohammad Nawaz, Mohammad Rizwan (wicketkeeper), Mohammad Wasim Jnr, Naseem Shah, Saim Ayub, Salman Ali Agha.