Pakistan seek to move beyond dependence on stars under Sahibzada Farhan’s T20I captaincy

Sahibzada Farhan begins his tenure as Pakistan’s T20I captain with a clear-eyed view of the task ahead — to move the side away from dependence on star names and towards a more aggressive, adaptable unit.

The three-match series against Sri Lanka, which begins under lights at the Rawalpindi Cricket Stadium on Friday, is the first test of that approach. Farhan, who led Pakistan to silver at the recent Asian Games and was the leading run-scorer at the 2026 T20 World Cup with 383 runs, has replaced Salman Ali Agha as captain. Babar Azam and Shaheen Shah Afridi are absent from the 15-member squad. Yet Farhan has played down the significance of his own elevation, repeatedly steering the conversation towards what he believes is within the team’s control: winning matches, adopting a faster T20 mindset and getting the best out of the players available to him. “There is pressure… you are leading from the front,” Farhan told reporters on Thursday. “But it is not that we will let that pressure sit on our heads.”

He said his experience in domestic cricket and at the Asian Games had prepared him for the responsibility, while describing the current squad as “a proper mix-up” of youth and returning seniors, including Fakhar Zaman and Shadab Khan.

Farhan also indicated that Pakistan’s top order would be encouraged to maintain the aggressive approach that has characterised his own batting. The conditions in Rawalpindi, however, are expected to prompt a different combination from the one Pakistan used in Japan, with two spinners and three pacers likely to feature.

The numbers underline Farhan’s preference for a high-tempo game. He has scored 1,305 runs in 46 T20Is at an average of around 30 and a strike rate of nearly 137, with two centuries to his name.

One of those came against Sri Lanka in the Super Eights of the World Cup earlier this year, when he and Fakhar Zaman put together a tournament-record 176-run partnership.

His recent form has further strengthened his case for a leadership role. Around him is a squad that includes Saim Ayub, Hasan Nawaz — who scored 96 in the Asian Games final — Naseem Shah and Abrar Ahmed, alongside several uncapped or lightly capped players.

Farhan was careful to draw a line between leadership and selection, saying the latter remained the committee’s responsibility. His task, he said, was to make the most of the 15 players selected.

“In England we had a little bit bad series in T20, but we have more positive things in bowling and fielding,” Mendis said during his pre-series media interaction. “Different conditions compared to England and Pakistan. We planned so many things and we try so many new things.”