Pakistan have dropped Babar Azam and Mohammad Rizwan, their top two run-getters in T20I history, for their five-match series in New Zealand.
Rizwan, their current white-ball captain and Babar, erstwhile skipper, were not named by Pakistan for their T20I series in New Zealand, with Salman Agha being named the new captain for the format.
The decision follows an embarrassing group-stage exit from the 2025 Champions Trophy: while Rizwan continues to be ODI captain, Pakistan seem to be moving on from him, and Babar, in the shortest format.
Why have Babar, Rizwan been dropped?
Statistically one of the most prolific pairings in T20I cricket, the Babar-Rizwan combination has scored 3,300 runs together at 46.47, the most for any pair in the format's history. Their 10 100-plus partnerships are also, by far, the world record, with no other pair scoring more than five. Further, Babar-Rizwan is one of only four pairings to finish unbeaten in a 200-plus run stand.
Despite these numbers, there's been major discussion over their approach to the format.
Since the start of 2022, Rizwan's been the fourth-highest run-getter in the format, but his strike rate has been 122.24. That's the second-lowest for an opener from a Test-playing nation in the same period, with a 30 innings cut-off.
Babar Azam has a slightly better T20I strike-rate in the same period – 129.37 – which is still among the five lowest strike-rates by a T20I opener from a Test playing nation with the same cut-off.
As a point of comparison, the top four openers from India, winners of the last T20 World Cup, have the following strike-rates in the same period: Abhishek Sharma (193.84), Yashasvi Jaiswal (164.31), Sanju Samson (162.09) and Rohit Sharma (142.81). Shubman Gill, as a backup option, has struck at 139.27.
With Saim Ayub emerging onto the scene, and with a higher strike-rate (137.95) than Rizwan and Babar, he's managed to break the axis at the top, with Babar shuttling between opening and No.3. Though currently injured, Saim is expected to take his place once he's back.
Worst strike-rates among T20I openers since 2022
Among Test-playing nations with a 30-innings cut-off
| Player | Country | Strike-rate |
| Pathum Nissanka | Sri Lanka | 121.15 |
| Mohammad Rizwan | Pakistan | 122.26 |
| Andy Balbirnie | Ireland | 122.34 |
| Babar Azam | Pakistan | 127.34 |
| Litton Das | Bangladesh | 128.36 |
'Fearless' cricket the way to go
Babar and Rizwan's approach has been relatively low on risk, and has been in the spotlight since their group-stage exit at the 2024 T20 World Cup, losing to the USA.
With their group-stage exit from the 2025 Champions Trophy as hosts and defending champions, there's been a barrage of criticism at the team's overall approach, which has been fraught with leadership changes.
Their new T20I captain, Salman Agha, has limited T20I credentials, but the latest decision seems to be a conscious one to let a newer face run the show. Salman himself is no spring chicken at 31, but seems to align with Pakistan's attempt to rebrand themselves.
"We have to focus on our intent and approach," Salman said upon his appointment. "We have to improve that. In modern day cricket, these things are important. This is a young team and we want to play fearless cricket. That is high-risk cricket, which is a requirement in modern cricket. There will be failures with that approach, but we have to support our players."
With Shadab Khan, a regular in T20 leagues, named vice-captain, the management seems to have added leadership around Salman. The short-term and long-term targets are the Asia Cup T20 this year, as well as the T20 World Cup in India next year.
Like any new appointment, Salman's promotion will have to be treated with caution: he's the fourth T20I captain for Pakistan since the start of 2024. He'd be hoping for a much longer stay.
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