Pakistan have constantly chopped and changed skippers across formats since the 2023 ODI World Cup. Here’s a timeline of their captaincy appointments since then.
November 2023: Babar steps down as Pakistan's all-format captain
Babar Azam resigned as Pakistan’s all-format captain after his team failed to make the semi-finals with just four wins from nine matches. He was first named the Pakistan T20I captain in 2019, then took over the ODI leadership a year later before becoming the all-format captain during a Test series against South Africa in 2021.
November 2023: Shaheen named Pakistan T20I captain, Masood appointed Test skipper
Soon after Babar stepped down, Pakistan announced Shan Masood and Shaheen Shah Afridi as the Test and T20I skippers respectively, while the ODI position remained vacant. In a statement, the PCB said Babar was offered the chance to continue as Test captain but declined.
Masood's appointment was notable because, despite debuting a decade ago, he had yet to fully nail down his place in the side, having scored 1,445 runs at an average of 28.33 up to that point. His appointment brought stability to the Test captaincy, which has since remained constant, in stark contrast to the revolving door of captains in Pakistan's white-ball format.
March 2024: Shaheen sacked as Pakistan T20I captain, Babar reappointed white-ball captain
Shaheen was captaincy contender and was tipped as Babar’s successor, largely due to his title wins with Lahore Qalandars in the PSL. However, after just one series, he was stripped of the T20I role following a 1-4 loss in New Zealand.
With a T20 World Cup approaching, the selectors turned to the experienced Babar. The decision proved disastrous. Pakistan entered the tournament after a drawn series with New Zealand, a win against Ireland, and a loss to England. They were then eliminated in the group stage, with the lowest point being a Super Over heartbreak against the USA.
October 2024: Rizwan succeeds Babar as white-ball captain
Babar stepped down as Pakistan’s white-ball captain for the second time. "Although the PCB had backed Babar Azam as the white-ball captain, his decision to step down reflects his desire to focus more on making a greater impact as a player," an official statement read.
Later that month, Pakistan appointed Mohammad Rizwan as his successor. Rizwan started with a historic series win against Australia (and another in South Africa). It's worth noting Babar did not play a single ODI during his second stint as white-ball skipper.
March 2025: Rizwan (and Babar) dropped from T20I squad, Salman named T20I captain
While Pakistan won the ODI leg of their Australia tour under Rizwan, they failed to win a single T20I match, including in the subsequent series against South Africa in late 2024. Those matches were the last T20Is for Rizwan and Babar: they were dropped from the squad due to concerns about their strike rates, with selectors opting to try newer faces.
With a lack of other alternatives, the T20I captaincy was given to Salman Ali Agha, who had scored just 50 runs at an average of 10 and a strike rate of 79 until then.
October 2025: Rizwan sacked as ODI captain, Shaheen succeeds him
The latest development in the musical chairs of Pakistan's captaincy is Rizwan being replaced by Shaheen as the ODI captain. Despite starting with three consecutive series wins, including away victories against Australia and South Africa, Rizwan had a poor 2025. Pakistan recently suffered a 0-3 rout in the West Indies. Shaheen is now reinstated as a Pakistan captain, albeit in a different format – ODIs.
