Reporting snapshot · 6 October 2026 (Asia/Karachi). The Pakistan Cricket Board announced its squads on Monday 5 October. The three-match Twenty20 international series against Sri Lanka begins at the Rawalpindi Cricket Stadium on 9 October, so selections could still change. The board did not explain its individual decisions, and this account separates what was announced from what remains open.
What the PCB announced
The Pakistan Cricket Board announced on 5 October that Sahibzada Farhan will captain Pakistan in the three-match T20I series against Sri Lanka, replacing Salman Ali Agha, Geo News reported. Shaheen Shah Afridi will continue to lead the one-day international side in the seven-match tri-series that also involves England, according to the International Cricket Council.
Farhan, a top-order batter, captained Pakistan at the men’s cricket competition at the Asian Games in Japan this month, where the side took silver after losing the final to India on 3 October. Agha, who led Pakistan at the T20 World Cup earlier this year, has been removed as T20I captain and left out of the T20 squad altogether, but he keeps his place in the 50-over squad.
A T20 squad reshaped
The T20I changes are extensive. Alongside Agha, the board left out Babar Azam, the spinner Usman Tariq, all-rounder Faheem Ashraf and fast bowler Shaheen Afridi from the group that contested the World Cup, The Express Tribune reported. Wicketkeeper-batter Mohammad Nawaz, whom the same report described as serving a suspension, is also out. The newspaper said wicketkeeper Usman Khan and spinner Usman Tariq were omitted as well.
The players brought in are Arafat Minhas, the seam bowler Imran Randhawa, Maaz Sadaqat, Hasan Nawaz, Naseem Shah and the young quick Razaullah. For Randhawa it is a maiden T20I call-up; for Razaullah, who made his Test debut against England in the recent series, it is a first senior white-ball call-up. Naseem returns to the T20 side after injury. Geo News reported that four Asian Games pace options — Ali Raza, Mohammad Wasim Jr, Akif Javed and Ahmed Daniyal — did not keep their places.
The 15-man T20I squad is: Sahibzada Farhan (captain), Abdul Samad, Abrar Ahmed, Arafat Minhas, Fakhar Zaman, Hasan Nawaz, Imran Randhawa, Khawaja Nafay (wicketkeeper), Maaz Sadaqat, Naseem Shah, Razaullah, Saim Ayub, Mohammad Salman Mirza, Shadab Khan and Sufiyan Moqim.
The ODI squad, captained by Shaheen Afridi, keeps a more familiar core. Babar Azam and Salman Ali Agha are both retained, and Fakhar Zaman returns after missing the previous one-day assignment through fitness. The 16 players are: Shaheen Shah Afridi (captain), Abrar Ahmed, Arafat Minhas, Babar Azam, Faheem Ashraf, Fakhar Zaman, Haris Rauf, Hasan Nawaz, Muhammad Ghazi Ghori (wicketkeeper), Naseem Shah, Razaullah, Saad Baig (wicketkeeper), Saim Ayub, Salman Ali Agha, Shadab Khan and Sufiyan Moqim.
The board also confirmed its support staff. Mike Hesson continues as head coach, with Shaun Tait appointed bowling coach, Michael Smith batting coach and Mansoor Amjad fielding coach. Naveed Akram Cheema is team manager.
Why the change matters
This is the first time the T20 side has been reshaped since the World Cup at the start of the year, and it is the first assignment under a new captain. Farhan’s elevation follows a short but eventful stint in charge at the Asian Games, where Pakistan reached the final before losing to India. The board’s decision to keep Agha and Babar in the ODI frame while removing them from the T20 side reads as a targeted short-format reset rather than a verdict on their international careers.
The move also extends a period of leadership churn. The board overhauled the Test set-up in August, releasing seven players and two coaches mid-series, and it has since cycled through captaincy arrangements across formats. The Asian Games campaign itself was framed by head coach Hesson as a chance to blood younger players and give Farhan captaincy experience, and the T20 selection applies that logic to a full international series.
For Pakistan’s audience, the deeper question is about authority. When a captain is dropped entirely from the squad a day after he is replaced, the public signal is that the selectors, not the captain, own the direction of the side. Whether that clarity holds once the matches begin — and whether the new captain has genuine input into selection — will shape how the change is judged.
The timing is tied to a crowded calendar. The tri-series is joint preparation for the 2027 men’s World Cup, where Pakistan and India have been drawn in the same group. A settled white-ball leadership structure is part of the groundwork, and the ODI leg now gives Agha and Babar a route back into contention.
The fixtures ahead
The three T20Is are scheduled for the Rawalpindi Cricket Stadium on 9, 11 and 13 October. The seven-match ODI tri-series then runs from 18 to 31 October, with Rawalpindi hosting the first three league games and Lahore the remaining matches and the final. The full schedule, and the travellers Sri Lanka have named, are set out in KhabarWire’s report on the visitors’ squad.
Pakistan have the upper hand in T20Is against Sri Lanka, winning 18 of their 31 completed meetings. Sri Lanka arrive after a 3-0 defeat in England last month and a 2-1 loss in the West Indies in June, although they reached the Asian Games semi-finals. This will be only the second time Sri Lanka have played a full T20I series on Pakistani soil.
What is still uncertain
The most obvious gap is the reason for the captaincy change. Neither the PCB’s announcement nor the reports based on it explained why Agha was removed as T20I captain or why Babar, a former Pakistan captain, was dropped from the short format. Selection can reflect form, role, workload or team balance, but without a stated rationale the decision can only be read from its effects.
It is also unclear whether the change is permanent or confined to this series. Farhan has led Pakistan only briefly, at a multi-sport event rather than a bilateral series, and the board has not said whether he is the long-term T20I captain. Babar’s T20I future is similarly open: his retention in the ODI squad suggests the selectors still see him in the 50-over plan, but they have given no timeline for a T20 return.
The squads themselves are not final. The ODI group can still be adjusted before the tri-series begins on 18 October, and the T20 side could change if a player is injured or withdrawn. Pakistan are also hosting the series during a tense domestic political period and a continuing counterterrorism operation in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa; the board has not commented on whether either will affect the fixtures, which are scheduled to proceed as published.
Sources & reporting notes
This is a synthesis of published material, not eyewitness reporting. Sources were reviewed on 6 October 2026 (Asia/Karachi). The squad lists and the captaincy change are taken from the Pakistan Cricket Board's announcement of 5 October as published by the International Cricket Council and reported independently by Geo News and The Express Tribune. The board's release was not directly accessible at the time of writing; the three cited pages carry the same official squad lists.
- International Cricket Council — Pakistan name squads for home white-ball assignmentsPublished 5 October 2026 · Governing-body publication of the PCB announcement: Farhan as T20I captain, Shaheen Afridi as ODI captain, both full squads, and the T20I and tri-series schedules.
- Geo News — Pakistan announce squads for Sri Lanka T20Is and ODI tri-seriesPublished 5 October 2026 · Independent report of the squad announcement, the captaincy change, Razaullah's maiden white-ball call-up, Imran Randhawa's maiden T20I call-up, the omissions of Agha, Usman Khan and Usman Tariq, and the support-staff appointments.
- The Express Tribune — Farhan replaces Agha Salman as T20I captainPublished 5 October 2026 · Independent report naming the players dropped from each squad, the ODI retentions of Babar Azam and Salman Ali Agha, Pakistan's 18-13 T20I record against Sri Lanka, and Sri Lanka's recent form.
