LAHORE: Babar Azam is Pakistan’s Test captain once again — barely three years after he chose to give the job up. The PCB confirmed his reappointment on Sunday, ending the tenure of Shan Masood, who paid the price for 12 defeats in 16 Tests since taking over on 15 November 2023. Shan has, however, been retained in the squad for the coming tours of the West Indies and England, where Pakistan will play five ICC World Test Championship matches between 25 July and 13 September.

It is a remarkable turn for Babar, who was Pakistan’s all-format captain from November 2020 — when he replaced Azhar Ali — until a poor showing at the 2023 ODI World Cup triggered the most turbulent stretch of captaincy changes in the country’s recent cricket history.

On 15 November 2023, the PCB stunned Pakistan cricket with a statement: “Babar was asked to continue as Test captain, while he has been relieved of captaincy in white-ball cricket for him to focus on one format. After consultation with his family, Babar decided to step down and PCB stands behind his decision.”

A follow-up release confirmed the reshuffle in full: “Shan has been appointed captain till the end of the ICC World Test Championship 2023-25. Meanwhile, left-arm pacer Shaheen Shah will lead Pakistan Men’s Team in the T20I format and his first assignment as captain will be the five-match T20I series in New Zealand from 12 to 21 January.”

The white-ball chair proved just as unstable.

Shaheen’s T20I reign lasted five matches before Babar was reinstated on 31 March 2024 — only for a disastrous T20 World Cup campaign later that year to force him to step down for the second time within twelve months.

His deputy, Mohammad Rizwan, took over the white-ball reins, guiding successful tours of Australia, South Africa and Zimbabwe as ODI captain before losing the job to Shaheen Shah Afridi following Pakistan’s Champions Trophy exit and subsequent series defeats to New Zealand and the West Indies.

Rizwan had already lost the T20I captaincy to Salman Ali Agha in March, meaning his last T20I appearance remains the December 2024 match against South Africa at Centurion.
The confusion deepened further last month when Sahibzada Farhan was named T20I captain for the Asian Games in Aichi-Nagoya, Japan, with no clarity offered on either Farhan’s tenure or Salman’s future in the format.

Against that backdrop of near-constant upheaval, Babar’s Test record makes his return easy to understand: 10 wins from 20 Tests in charge, against six defeats, including a 3-0 home series loss to England in 2022.

He also has recent Caribbean pedigree — Babar led the side on Pakistan’s last tour of the West Indies in 2021, when they lost a heartbreaking one-wicket first Test before winning the second by 109 runs, and top-scored on that trip with 193 runs in four innings.

He was part of the squad, too, when Pakistan won their only-ever series in the West Indies, in 2016-17, contributing 136 runs across six innings with two half-centuries.

As captain he averages just under 51, from 1,727 runs; his overall Test average sits at 42.68, from 4,481 runs in 62 matches.

THE SQUAD

Pakistan’s selectors have named 16 players for the West Indies leg, with Saud Shakeel set to join the group in England as a 17th man.

Four uncapped players feature: left-arm spinner Ali Usman, middle-order batter Awais Zafar, wicketkeeper Mohammad Ghazi Ghori, and fast bowler Ubaid Shah. Ghazi Ghori and Azan were both part of the squad that toured Bangladesh in May, while Ali and Ubaid have been picked for the first time.

All-rounder Aamir Jamal and fast bowler Mohammad Ali have been recalled. Aamir’s eighth and last Test appearance was against South Africa in Cape Town in January 2025, while Mohammad Ali played two Tests against England in 2022 and two against Bangladesh in 2024.

Players left out from the last Test series against Bangladesh are: Hasan Ali, Amad Butt, Noman Ali and Shaheen Shah Afridi.

On Shaheen Shah Afridi omission, Aqib Javed said: “For the tour to the West Indies and England, we thought we needed pace. Nothing is permanent, Shaheen is not doubt a good bowler and we cannot call off on anyone’s career. The bowlers selected for the two tours have produced strong performances and they have been selected on merit.”

Kamran Ghulam, a late invitee to the pre-season camp, will consider himself unlucky to miss out again — since his century on Test debut against England, he has played just six Tests for 312 runs, including a century and a half-century, and was left out of the South Africa and Bangladesh squads after a difficult home series against the West Indies on spin-friendly pitches.

SQUAD: Babar Azam (captain), Aamir Jamal, Abdullah Fazal, Ali Usman, Azan Awais, Imam ul Haq, Khurram Shahzad, Mohammad Abbas, Mohammad Ali, Mohammad Rizwan (wicket-keeper), Mohammad Awais Zafar, Muhammad Ghazi Ghori (wicket-keeper), Sajid Khan, Salman Ali Agha, Shan Masood and Ubaid Shah. Saud Shakeel will join the squad in England.

Babar now has a little over three weeks to prepare his new-look side before the first ball is bowled in Tarouba on 25 July — the start of what will be his first assignment back in the job he once walked away from.

Test schedule:
25-29 Jul – 1st Test v West Indies, Brian Lara Cricket Academy, Tarouba
2-6 Aug – 2nd Test v West Indies, Queen’s Park Oval, Port of Spain, Port of Spain
19-23 Aug – 1st Test v England, Leeds
27-31 Aug – 2nd Test v England, Lord’s
9-13 Sep – 3rd Test v England, Birmingham