3 reasons why Salman Ali Agha as Pakistan's T20I captain is the wrong move

After a radical decision-filled 2024, Pakistan have started 2025 on an equally baffling note by appointing all-rounder Salman Ali Agha as their new T20I captain ahead of the New Zealand tour. Veterans Babar Azam and Mohammad Rizwan have been ousted as the Men in Green look to unleash a new era in time for the 2026 T20 World Cup.

Salman Ali Agha established the need to embrace an aggressive approach in his first words after being appointed captain.

"It's an honour for me and also a challenge. We've brought a few youngsters into the team who have been playing the brand of cricket in domestic cricket that we want to play in the national side going forward," Salman Ali Agha told reporters (via ESPN Cricinfo).

"We have to focus on our intent and approach. 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," he added.

On that note, let us take a look at three reasons why Salman Ali Agha as Pakistan's T20I captain is the wrong move.

#1 Inexperienced as a player, let alone as a captain

Even the most experienced campaigners find it difficult to be at the helm of the Pakistan team, widely regarded as one of the toughest jobs in world cricket due to its sheer unpredictability. As a result, the appointment of Salman Ali Agha, who has made his debut in 2024, with only six appearances so far, is akin to someone being thrown to the wolves.

While Salman Ali Agha has played as captain in four of his six T20I appearances, the majority of them came during the three-match series against Zimbabwe. Although the team wish to head in a new direction, appointing an inexperienced captain out of sheer lack of options is not necessarily the right first step.

Furthermore, specialist captains, who have a place in the squad just because of their leadership title is never a good sign. While Salman Ali Agha has proven to be a utility player in the longer formats, he is yet to prove that he can be a bankable player in the shortest format.

The all-rounder has made 82 T20 appearances so far, scoring 1,137 runs at an average of 18.95, and a strike rate of 116.13. As far as his bowling credentials are concerned, he has taken 40 wickets at an average of 22.22 and an economy rate of 6.79.

#2 A burden on a player trying to prove himself

Having made his debut only a few months back, Salman Ali Agha is still trying to establish himself in the first team. Amid this, tasking him with the additional burden of captaincy is detrimental to both the player as well as the team. The extra pressure might impact his performance as a player, and if the team results do not align, then Pakistan may be forced to shake things up yet again.

With Pakistan attempting a revamp from the ground up, right from personnel to approach, appointing a captain who has already built a foundation might have been a better choice.

It does not help that Salman Ali Agha's first assignment is a challenging tour of New Zealand. Shaheen Afridi had also started his captaincy stint under similar circumstances, but was sacked a few weeks later as Babar Azam was reinstated.

#3 At this moment Pakistan cannot afford a captain who learns on the job

Pakistan have shuffled around captains for a while now, but none of them have been as inexperienced as Salman Ali Agha. Even Shaheen Afridi had success in the Pakistan Super League (PSL) as a leader, before he was appointed as captain. Moreover, he was also one of the most high-profile players in the squad. The same goes with Babar Azam and Mohammad Rizwan.

In Salman Ali Agha's case, there is no leadership experience throughout his 12-year cricketing career, beginning at the domestic level. So, taking on the Pakistan captaincy role when the team is in absolute tatters is a recipe for disaster.

The timing is wrong on so many different levels considering that this is a phase where the build-up to the 2026 T20 World Cup begins. They already have headaches across all departments, and having a stable captain would have saved them from at least one. Instead, it might just prove to be their biggest issue as this appointment risks setting them back at least a few months.