Pakistan cricket continues to be run on trial and error. Their regular T20I captain has been sacked less than two years into the job and seven of the 15 players who formed Pakistan's squad for this year's T20 World Cup have been dumped in the lead up to the three-T20I series against Sri Lanka, which begins this week.
It is not clear whether Sahibzada Farhan, Pakistan's fourth T20I captain since the beginning of 2024, is at the helm for this series only or if he's been appointed longer term; or whether the axing of Babar Azam and Salman Agha from the T20I side is yet another recalibration in Pakistan's batting strategy, especially with the returns of Hasan Nawaz and Abdul Samad.
We don't have answers for these questions as the PCB named the two white-ball squads for the upcoming Sri Lanka T20Is and an ODI tri-series through a brief media release, instead of press conference with selectors. But Nawaz's return in both squads after a year out is especially notable as it encapsulates the hit-and-miss nature of Pakistan's selection policy of late.
It was at the start of 2025 that Pakistan dared to explore what a post-RizBar era would look like and paired explosive options in Nawaz and Mohammad Haris at the top to maximise Powerplays, after the two had demonstrated their power-hitting abilities in the Champions T20 Cup a few months before. But the experiment ended in failure as both struggled to adjust to New Zealand conditions throughout a T20I series that Pakistan lost 4-1.
Nawaz smashed a century in his third T20I - at Auckland - after recording ducks in the first two games and would end the tour accumulating only one run across the first two and last two T20Is. That the PSL edition followed worked in Nawaz's favour as Quetta Gladiators demonstrated how to make best use of his capabilities by dropping him into the middle order. He finished that season as the third highest scorer with 399 runs at a strike rate of 162.19, and played a crucial role in guiding Gladiators to the final - their first since winning the tournament in 2019.
Nawaz started that season at No.3 but was dropped further down after his 41 off 32 in the first match was followed by two scores of 1 against Lahore Qalandars and Karachi Kings. After testing him at six and seven in the next two games, Gladiators slotted him in at four from where he scored 313 of his 399 runs that season, striking at 183.04. He smashed 100 against Islamabad United at a strike rate of more than 222 and scored half-centuries in three of the other four innings, including the final.
Nawaz is a capable power-hitter. His solid base, elegant bat swing, and muscular stature help him hit the ball long. More importantly, his idea of aggressive batting is not limited to hacks towards leg side but his strong wrists and timing allow him to clear long off and extra cover with ease.
Fast bowlers had exploited his vulnerability against the new ball and Gladiators shielded him. He averages only 3.83 against pace inside the first six overs in T20Is and has been dismsised six times in 34 balls for 23 runs. Dropping him down the order allowed him a suitable entry point at which he could unleash a wide array of shots.
Pakistan followed the Gladiators and slotted him in the middle order for a subsequent home series against Bangladesh in Lahore. Nawaz duly hit 44, 51*, and 26 at strike rates of 200, 196.15, and 200. Pakistan swept the three-match series, touted as Pakistan's belated entry into a new batting age. In Nawaz, Pakistan had a batter who could attack against pace and spin in the middle overs and the selectors could finally look beyond Iftikhar Ahmed, Khushdil Shah, and Asif Ali.
The dearth of proper power-hitters in Pakistan's batting lineup has been a long-running issue. In this ODI World Cup cycle, the combined strike rate of their batters has been 83.89, which puts them 11th among the 20 teams who have played ODIs since November 20, 2023 and is only better than Ireland, Bangladesh, and Zimbabwe among full members. Their balls per boundary of 10.34 is only better than Afghanistan, Ireland, Bangladesh, and Zimbabwe among Full Members.
That something works in one format is not guaranteed to work in another. But that's not how Pakistan selectors work. It is often the case that players find themselves debuting early for Pakistan, on the basis of their potential or a few noteworthy performances in a different format to the one they are called up for. With Pakistan desperate to resolve their strike rate woes, they handed Nawaz a debut in the format during the 2025 tour of the Caribbean. He had played only five List A matches until then in which he averaged 24 with 46 being his top score.
But Nawaz lived up to the promise initially with a spirited 63 not out at 116.66 and followed it up with another unbeaten innings of 36 at 120.00. But batters like Nawaz will misfire, especially where conditions are not conducive for free-flowing batting. His runs dried up when Pakistan landed in the UAE in the lead up to the Asia Cup, as he managed only 93 runs in five matches - with 56 in one innings against UAE - in the Sharjah tri-series. He soon found himself out of the XI after scores of nine, five, and three against Oman, India, and UAE, respectively in the group stages of the Asia Cup.
Like so many promising cricketers who are fast-tracked to the senior team in Pakistan and find themselves pushed out after they lose form, soon Nawaz was out of the squad altogether.
Later that home season, as they were announcing their white-ball squads for a home series, the PCB said that Nawaz was being "released [from the squad] to participate in the ongoing Quaid-e-Azam Trophy - the country's premier first-class tournament." The move ostensibly was to allow Nawaz to regain his form and confidence. It is, after all, to where the domestic circuit players retreat when they struggle at the international arena.
But he was back in the Pakistan squad 10 days later, after Abdul Samad was injured while fielding in Rawalpindi. The episode underscored the ad-hoc treatment to player development in Pakistan. As a batter sent back to the domestic circuit to work on his batting, Nawaz found his way back not because he made the necessary adjustments, but because a player who replaced him needed to be replaced.
Nawaz was soon disposed off for good after warming the bench in the T20I tri-series and with Nawaz and Haris out of contention altogether, the narrative around Pakistan's batting was framed towards cautious adventurism (with an eye on the T20 World Cup in Sri Lanka) instead of relentless aggression.
But after another failure to make it to the knockouts of an ICC event, Pakistan once again, decided to look beyond the seniors and sent a relatively young and less experienced squad - which combined the senior and Shaheens teams - to the Asian Games. It has resulted in Abdul Samad, Arafat Minhas, Maaz Sadaqat, and Sufyan Moqim retaining their places, along with Nawaz, while Mohammad Imran Randhawa and Razaullah, who were not part of the Asian Games, earning maiden T20I call-ups.
No player made a case as strong as Nawaz for his retention in the side. His 96 off 51 balls against India in the Gold Medal match in Nisshin was the only silver lining in what was otherwise a grim outing for Pakistan. He was also impressive in the semifinal against Bangladesh as his supporting act turned an improbable chase into a comfortable win.
Though a small sample size, it highlights Nawaz's maturity as a batter, who played the situation rather than hitting recklessly. That he was able to exercise it in a high-pressure game against India perhaps earned him the selectors' trust once again.
But it's unclear how long selectors will back him, or whether he is in their plans for the next year's 50-over World Cup or the T20 World Cup the following year. This selection committee, after all, is known for its impulsivity as Nawaz's recall in both white-ball formats shows.
He has played only three List A matches, in the National Champions Cup, since his last ODI almost a year ago. With 131 runs at 43.66, Nawaz was 10th on the list of highest run-getters in the four-team tournament, specifically added to the domestic calendar this year to identify one-day depth ahead of the next year's World Cup.
There were four middle order batters who scored more than Nawaz - Saad Khan (162 runs at 40.50), Omair Bin Yousuf (159 runs at 39.75), Haider Ali (145 at 48.33), and Farhan Yousuf (139 at 104.51) - which suggests recency bias rather than long-term planning.
Nawaz now has an opportunity to cement his place in a side which is desperate to have him. But that should not burden him because there will always be another opportunity waiting for him if the status quo persists.