Salman Ali Agha has been appointed the vice-captain of Pakistan’s white-ball side, including T20Is, where he is yet to play a game. Here is a look into the all-rounder's numbers in the T20 format.
Pakistan made wholesale changes to their leadership core, with Mohammad Rizwan appointed as the new white-ball captain. His maiden assignment will be the ODI and T20I series against Australia starting November 4. Rizwan will succeed Babar Azam, who had left the role after Pakistan’s group stage exit from the T20 World Cup earlier in June.
Rizwan’s deputy will be all-rounder Salman Ali Agha, who will lead the side in Rizwan’s absence for the subsequent three-match T20I series against Zimbabwe between November 24 and December 5.
Amid all the changes, Pakistan’s white-ball head coach, Gary Kirsten, resigned after media reports on a potential rift between him and the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) had surfaced. Test coach Jason Gillespie will take over Kirsten’s role for the Australia tour on an interim basis.
While Salman has played 21 ODIs, including the ODI World Cup last year, he has still not featured in any T20Is. However, the format he has made the most strides in is Test cricket, where he recently became the highest-ranked (14) Pakistan batter following his exploits in the historic home series win against England.
Gary Kirsten’s resignation marks the fourth full-time head coach change for Pakistan’s white-ball team in just three years.
— Wisden (@WisdenCricket) October 28, 2024
Curious who managed the longest run as the head coach 🤔
Check here ➡️ https://t.co/ECqF6Eti3x pic.twitter.com/AYXv4UUew0
What are Salman's T20 numbers like?
At first glance, Salman’s T20 batting numbers are mediocre at best. He has made 1,087 runs at an average of 19.76. His strike rate of 118.66 isn’t impressive either. However, his bowling, supposed to be his weaker suit, outshines his batting when it comes to T20s.
His 38 wickets have come at an average of 22.71 and an economy of 6.85. His best of 5-10 came as the captain of Southern Punjab in a 2022 National T20 Cup fixture against Central Punjab, that had the likes of Abdullah Shafique, Ahmed Shehzad, Tayyab Tahir and Shoaib Malik.
With four wins from 10 league matches, Southern Punjab finished last on the points table that year, making it his only captaincy stint in the format to date.
PSL 2024 a breakthrough season
Salman’s fortunes took a positive turn in 2024. He was one of the key architects behind Islamabad United’s 2024 title-winning PSL campaign. He lit up the season in the first match itself. Chasing 195 against Lahore Qalandars, Salman came in at No.4 and struck an unbeaten 31-ball 64 to take his team home with eight balls remaining. He followed that up with another 52 off 43 albeit in a losing cause in a nailbiter against Multan Sultans.
Batting at the top of the order, he maintained the tempo throughout the tournament. With 310 runs at an average of 31 and a strike rate of 140.27, Salman finished the year as United’s second-highest scorer behind Colin Munro (326).
Impressive Test and ODI records
Salman was one of Pakistan’s batting mainstays during their recent home series win against England, their first since 2021. After scoring 104* and 63 in the first Multan Test, he made some vital contributions at No.7 to turn things around for the hosts. His 89-ball 63 while batting with the tail in the third innings of the second match deserves a special mention. He finished as the home side’s second-highest run-getter (262) after Saud Shakeel (280).
So far, Salman has 1,191 Test runs at 45.80. He has made a decent start to his ODI career as well, scoring 487 runs at 40.58 while striking at 97.98. His ascension to the vice-captaincy role indicates Pakistan are looking at him as an all-format mainstay.
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