Sahibzada Farhan named Pakistan T20I captain for Sri Lanka series, Salman Agha and Babar dropped

Sahibzada Farhan is Pakistan's new T20I captain. The PCB named him on Monday 5 October 2026 to lead a 15-man Pakistan T20 squad against Sri Lanka in Rawalpindi on 9, 11 and 13 October, replacing Salman Ali Agha, who is left out of the T20I side altogether. Shaheen Shah Afridi keeps the ODI captaincy for the tri-series with England and Sri Lanka that follows, Dawn reported.

Farhan, the opening batter, has just led Pakistan to silver at the Asian Games in Japan, where they lost the final to India by 19 runs: Asian Games final report.

Pakistan T20 squad for Sri Lanka series

Sahibzada Farhan (captain), Abdul Samad, Abrar Ahmed, Arafat Minhas, Fakhar Zaman, Hasan Nawaz, Muhammad Imran, Khawaja Nafay (wicketkeeper), Maaz Sadaqat, Naseem Shah, Razaullah, Saim Ayub, Mohammad Salman Mirza, Shadab Khan, Sufiyan Muqeem.

Who is in and who is out

• Out of the T20Is: Salman Ali Agha (captain until now), Babar Azam and Shaheen Shah Afridi. All three are in the ODI squad instead, Dawn reported.
• Uncapped: all-rounders Razaullah and Muhammad Imran Randhawa.
• Back: Abdul Samad, who last played a T20I in March 2025, and Naseem Shah, whose last T20I was against Sri Lanka in February 2026. Shadab Khan returns as well.
• In form: Hasan Nawaz was the leading run-scorer for Pakistan at the Asian Games with 123 runs, including 96 in the final.

What it means: this is a young, Asian Games-based side for the first home series of the season, with Farhan and Saim Ayub likely to open and Fakhar Zaman in the top order. The spin is Abrar Ahmed, Sufiyan Muqeem and Shadab; the pace is Naseem, Salman Mirza and the uncapped all-rounders.

Pakistan ODI squad for the tri-series

Shaheen Shah Afridi (captain), Abrar Ahmed, Salman Ali Agha, Arafat Minhas, Babar Azam, Faheem Ashraf, Fakhar Zaman, Mohammad Ghazi Ghori, Haris Rauf, Hasan Nawaz, Naseem Shah, Razaullah, Saad Baig, Saim Ayub, Shadab Khan, Sufiyan Muqeem.

Saad Baig, the former Under-19 captain who scored more than 1,000 runs in the 2025-26 Quaid-e-Azam Trophy, is the new face, Dawn reported. The tri-series starts on 18 October: its first three matches are in Rawalpindi and the rest, including the final on 31 October, in Lahore. Fixtures and Sri Lanka and England squads: Pakistan tri-series 2026.

Coaches

Mike Hesson stays head coach. Shaun Tait returns as bowling coach on a consultancy basis in place of Ashley Noffke, who has left to coach the Netherlands, with Michael Smith (batting), Mansoor Amjad (fielding) and Naveed Akram Cheema as team manager, according to Dialogue Pakistan.

How to watch and get tickets

All three T20Is are at Rawalpindi Cricket Stadium and are on PTV, which holds this season's home rights. Tickets are on sale at pcb.tcs.com.pk from Rs 300: Pakistan vs Sri Lanka tickets. Sri Lanka's squad, the Rawalpindi traffic plan and every result go on our living page: Pakistan vs Sri Lanka 2026. Scores on match days: cricket today.