Mohammad Rizwan replaces Babar Azam as Pakistan’s white-ball captain; Check Men in Green’s squads for Australia tour

Mohammad Rizwan has replaced Babar Azam as Pakistan’s white-ball captain as the cricket board announced ODI and T20I squads for the tour of Australia on Sunday. The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) also announced Salman Ali Agha as the vice-captain for all future ODIs and T20Is. Pakistan’s tour of Australia begins on November 4, thus marking Rizwan’s first assignment as full-time white-ball captain.

Rizwan will thus become the 31st cricketer to captain Pakistan in ODIs and 12th in the shortest format of the game. Pakistan will play three ODIs and as many T20Is against Australia. “I am deeply honoured to be appointed as Pakistan’s white-ball captain.

“Representing Pakistan on the global stage is the greatest privilege and to now be entrusted with leading such a talented and exciting group of players is a tremendous honour," the 32-year-old Rizwan said in the PCB statement.

Rizwan, who debuted in white-ball cricket in 2015, has played in 74 ODIs and 102 T20Is till date, scoring 5,401 runs with four centuries and accounting for 143 dismissals behind the stumps. Meanwhile, Babar Azam and pacers Shaheen Shah Afridi and Naseem Shah,who were dropped from the final two Test matches against England, have been named in the tour of Australia. However the trio were not named in Pakistan’s tour of Zimbabwe.

Agha will lead the T20I side in Zimbabwe as Rizwan is rested under a workload management plan, the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) said in a statement. Pakistan's tour of Zimbabwe -- for three ODIs and three T20Is – is from November 24 to December 5.

Pakistan squads for Australia series

ODI: Mohammad Rizwan (captain), Salman Ali Agha (vice-captain), Aamir Jamal, Abdullah Shafique, Arafat Minhas, Babar Azam, Faisal Akram, Haris Rauf, Haseebullah (WK), Kamran Ghulam, Mohammad Hasnain, Muhammad Irfan Khan, Naseem Shah, Saim Ayub, Shaheen Shah Afridi.

T20I: Mohammad Rizwan (captain), Salman Ali Agha (vice-captain), Arafat Minhas, Babar Azam, Haris Rauf, Haseebullah (WK), Jahandad Khan, Mohammad Abbas Afridi, Muhammad Irfan Khan, Naseem Shah, Omair Bin Yousuf, Sahibzada Farhan, Shaheen Shah Afridi, Sufyan Moqim, Usman Khan.

Pakistan squads for Zimbabwe series

ODI: Mohammad Rizwan (captain), Salman Ali Agha (vice-captain), Aamir Jamal, Abdullah Shafique, Abrar Ahmed, Ahmed Daniyal, Faisal Akram, Haris Rauf, Haseebullah (WK), Kamran Ghulam, Mohammad Hasnain, Muhammad Irfan Khan, Saim Ayub, Shahnawaz Dahani and Tayyab Tahir.

T20I: Salman Ali Agha (captain), Ahmed Daniyal, Arafat Minhas, Haris Rauf, Haseebullah (WK), Jahandad Khan, Mohammad Abbas Afridi, Mohammad Hasnain, Muhammad Irfan Khan, Omair bin Yousuf, Qasim Akram, Sahibzada Farhan, Sufyan Moqim, Tayyab Tahir and Usman Khan.

(With PTI inputs)