Mohammad Rizwan becomes Pakistan's new white-ball captain

Star wicketkeeper-batter Mohammad Rizwan on Sunday replaced Babar Azam to become Pakistan's new white-ball skipper. Ahead of Pakistan's limited-overs tours of Australia and Zimbabwe next month, the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) announced Mohammad Rizwan as their new skipper with Salman Ali Agha as vice-captain. Earlier this month, Babar announced that he would step down as the white-ball captain of the Pakistan cricket team to "prioritise" his performance.

Pakistan has not won a major tournament during Babar's tenure as captain, which began in 2019. Last year, under his leadership, Pakistan was eliminated from the Asia Cup in the Super 4 stage after a two-wicket defeat by Sri Lanka in Colombo.A few months later, Pakistan's struggles continued as they failed to reach the knockout stage of the ODI World Cup in India.

In a statement on his official X account on October 2, Babar expressed that it had been an honour to lead the Pakistan men's cricket team. He stated that stepping down from the captaincy would give him clarity and allow him to focus on his personal growth and performance. Earlier in the day, Pakistan announced 15-member squads for white-ball series tours to Australia and Zimbabwe starting from November 4 onwards, with star batter Babar Azam being rested from the Zimbabwe tour.

Mohammad Rizwan will be available for both Australia matches and the Zimbabwe ODIs but will not participate in the T20Is. Pakistan will also have three debutants in their midst - Kamran Ghulam, Omair Bin Yousuf and Sufyan Moqim, while Aamir Jamal, Arafat Minhas, Faisal Akram, Haseebullah, Muhammad Irfan Khan, and Saim Ayub have joined the ODI squad for the first time.

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

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

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

T20I squad for Zimbabwe: 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, Salman Ali Agha, Sufyan Moqim, Tayyab Tahir and Usman Khan. (ANI)