Wicket-keeper batter Mohammad Rizwan was appointed the Pakistan cricket team captain in white-ball cricket on Sunday. Rizwan will replace star batter Babar Azam who stepped down from the position following a disastrous run in the T20 World Cup 2024. Rizwan’s first assignment as Pakistan captain will be the three-match ODI series against Australia starting November 4. Pakistan open the Australia tour with three one-day internationals in Melbourne (November 4), Adelaide (November 8) and Perth (November 10). That will be followed by three Twenty20 internationals in Brisbane (November 14), Sydney (November 16) and Hobart (November 18). Salman Agha was appointed vice-captain of the Pakistan cricket team.
Allrounders Aamer Jamal and Arafat Minhas, spinner Faisal Akram, wicketkeeper batsman Haseebullah and batsmen Irfan Khan and Saim Ayub have been selected for the first time in ODIs.
Likewise, allrounders Jahandad Khan and Salman Agha have been selected for the first time in T20Is.
Azam, appointed white-ball captain for the first time in 2019, stepped down after Pakistan’s disastrous first-round exit from the ODI World Cup in India last year.
However, he was re-appointed for a second time in March ahead of the T20I World Cup in the United States and West Indies — where Pakistan exited in the first round again, adding pressure on him to resign.
Squads for Australia:
ODI SQUAD: Aamer Jamal, Abdullah Shafique, Arafat Minhas, Babar Azam, Faisal Akram, Haris Rauf, Haseebullah, Kamran Ghulam, Mohammad Hasnain, Mohammad Rizwan, Irfan Khan, Naseem Shah, Saim Ayub, Salman Agha, Shaheen Shah Afridi
T20I SQUAD: Arafat Minhas, Babar Azam, Haris Rauf, Haseebullah, Jahandad Khan, Abbas Afridi, Mohammad Rizwan, Irfan Khan, Naseem Shah, Omair Bin Yousuf, Sahibzada Farhan, Salman Agha, Shaheen Shah Afridi, Sufyan Moqim, Usman Khan
Squads for Zimbabwe:
ODI: Aamer Jamal, Abdullah Shafique, Abrar Ahmed, Ahmed Daniyal, Faisal Akram, Haris Rauf, Haseebullah, Kamran Ghulam, Mohammad Hasnain, Mohammad Rizwan, Irfan Khan, Saim Ayub, Salman Agha, Shahnawaz Dahani, Tayyab Tahir
T20I: Ahmed Daniyal, Arafat Minhas, Haris Rauf, Haseebullah, Jahandad Khan, Abbas Afridi, Mohammad Hasnain, Irfan Khan, Omair bin Yousuf, Qasim Akram, Sahibzada Farhan, Salman Agha, Sufyan Moqim, Tayyab Tahir, Usman Khan
(With AFP inputs)
