Pakistan has named Mohammad Rizwan as the captain for the upcoming white-ball tours of Australia and Zimbabwe, replacing Babar Azam who stepped down earlier this month. Rizwan, 32, previously led Pakistan in two Test matches during the tour of New Zealand in 2020 when Azam was injured, but this will be his first stint as captain in limited-overs matches.
Rizwan will lead the squad, which includes Azam and Shaheen Shah Afridi, who were dropped from the last two Tests against England in the series that Pakistan won 2-0 on Saturday. Pakistan Cricket Board chairman Mohsin Naqvi announced the decision, stating that all stakeholders were consulted before finalizing Rizwan's appointment as the white-ball team captain.
Azam, who was initially appointed as the white-ball captain in 2019, resigned after Pakistan's early exit from the ODI World Cup in India last year. However, he was reappointed in March ahead of the T20I World Cup in the United States and West Indies, where Pakistan again exited in the first round, leading to further pressure on him to step down.
Rizwan expressed his honor in leading Pakistan and vowed to work hard to achieve positive results on the tours. Middle-order batter Salman Agha will serve as Rizwan's deputy. Azam and Shaheen will be rested for the limited-overs matches in the upcoming Zimbabwe tour next month.
Pakistan's tour of Australia will commence with three one-day internationals in Melbourne (November 4), Adelaide (November 8), and Perth (November 10), followed by three Twenty20 internationals in Brisbane (November 14), Sydney (November 16), and Hobart (November 18). Several new players have been selected for the ODI and T20I squads, including all-rounders Aamer Jamal and Arafat Minhas, spinner Faisal Akram, wicketkeeper-batsman Haseebullah, and batsmen Irfan Khan and Saim Ayub.
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