Shadab Khan will captain Pakistan’s T20I side against Afghanistan in the absence of regular captain Babar Azam, Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) officials announced late Monday.

Pakistan also decided to rest several key regulars for the series, including Fakhar Zaman, Haris Rauf, Shaheen Afridi and Mohammad Rizwan.

Shadab has been the vice-captain of the limited-overs side in the last two years and even stood in for Babar during the T20I series in the tour of New Zealand in 2020.

Speaking after the announcement, Shadab said: “I am grateful to the Almighty for this opportunity. Representing your country is an honor for any cricketer and to lead it is even a bigger honor so I am very excited and eager to take this role.

“This is a big responsibility as I will be leading a nation of 220 million people and I will try my best to do justice with it with all the ability that I have.”

Several new talents such as Ihsanullah, Saim Ayub, Tayyab Tahir and Zaman Khan are in line for their T20I debuts after impressing in the Pakistan Super League (PSL) while the likes of Abdullah Shafique, Azam Khan, Faheem Ashraf and Imad Wasim have earned a recall.

Pakistan will depart for the UAE on 22 March for the series which starts on 24 March in what will be the first multi-game bilateral assignment between the two sides.

All three games will be played in Sharjah where Afghanistan will be on the hunt for their first limited-overs victory over Pakistan.