Salman Ali Agha to become new red ball captain

LAHORE: Salman Ali Agha is tipped to succeed Shan Masood as Pakistan’s new red-ball captain, as the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) looks set to make a final decision on the squad for England and West Indies tours.

According to media reports, Shan Masood’s captaincy tenure in Test cricket is under scrutiny, with the PCB authorities having a discussion regarding the possible change of guard before the challenging red ball assignments of the team.

Reports said PCB Chairman Mohsin Naqvi is to give a final nod on Pakistan’s Test captaincy. Salman Ali Agha, currently the T20 captain, is on the verge of being named as Test captain as well.

The decision on the change of captain comes amid Pakistan’s recent whitewash losses. Masood was appointed Test captain before the Australia tour in 2023 and led them to a 3-0 series defeat – his captaincy in the longest format was up until this point defined by the results and poor performance.

He has been leading the Pakistan Test side for over a year now with a poor win-loss record of 4 wins and 12 defeats from 16 matches, translating into a win rate of 25%.

The Pakistani Test team’s performance under his captaincy recently got further blunted with a crushing 0-2 whitewash at home under Masood’s captaincy, which also proved to be one of the biggest downfalls for the side under him.

Since taking over the helm in the longest format of the game, Masood has presided over seven Test series, out of which his only series win came in a 2-1 home series win against England earlier this year.

Selectors are poised to unveil a 17-man squad for the two assignments shortly, and while there is no clarity over who will lead the team in red-ball games, sources said that any change of captain would be in line with the PCB’s long-term strategy for developing a successful red-ball side.

Pakistan is set to leave for the West Indies on July 13th and will play their first warm-up match for the tour against a four-day practice match squad from July 18.

The Tests against West Indies, beginning from July 25-29 and August 2-6 at Trinidad and Tobago, followed by a three-match series against England starting August 19th at Headingley, Leeds.

Their second Test match would be on August 27th at Lord’s Cricket Ground, London, before the third and final Test match that is scheduled to be played at Edgbaston, Birmingham, from September 9th.