Shadab Khan has been appointed Pakistan's T20I captain for the upcoming three-match series against Afghanistan in Sharjah. Regular captain Babar Azam and other senior players in Fakhar Zaman, Haris Rauf, Mohammad Rizwan and Shaheen Shah Afridi have been rested "keeping their workloads and future series in mind," the PCB said in a release."With one eye on the ICC Men's T20 World Cup 2024 and the other on ensuring the careers of their elite cricketers are extended by strategically managing their workloads, the Pakistan cricket selectors today named a new-look and highly-talented 15-player squad," the release further stated.

The fresh looking squad sees four uncapped players in Ihsanullah, Saim Ayub, Tayyab Tahir and Zaman Khan. Abdullah Shafique, Azam Khan, Faheem Ashraf and Imad Wasim have been recalled. Asif Ali, Haider Ali, Mohammad Hasnain and Khushdil Shah have been dropped. Mohammad Yousuf has been appointed the interim head and batting coach for the short series in Sharjah."Babar, Fakhar, Haris, Rizwan and Shaheen have been provided breaks from the short Sharjah trip to allow them to switch-off from competitive cricket so that they can complete their rehabilitations, regroup, recompose and recharge their batteries and be fully fit for the challenges in the tough and challenging 2023-24 season," said Chair of the selection committee, Haroon Rashid.Chair of PCB Management Committee, Najam Sethi, said: "I want to congratulate Shadab Khan on his appointment as the Pakistan team captain for the series against Afghanistan. Shadab Khan has been the Pakistan vice-captain in white-ball cricket for the past couple of years and it is logical that he takes over the side in the absence of Babar Azam for the short three-match T20I tour of Sharjah.