Mohammad Rizwan vice-captain of the T20I side

2024.01.09

Shadab Khan steps down from the position, and he will collaborate closely with Shaheen Shah Afridi, who was chosen the T20I captain for life.

In advance of the squad’s five-match series against New Zealand, the Pakistan Cricket Board [PCB] named Muhammad Rizwan vice-captain of the Twenty20 International team. With Shadab Khan recovering from an ankle injury that kept him out of the New Zealand trip, the wicket-keeper batsman takes over in the role.

Following Babar Azam‘s resignation as captain of all cricket formats after the 2023 ODI World Cup, a number of changes have been made to the Pakistani leadership group and board structure, with Rizwan’s appointment being the most recent. With only four victories in nine games, Pakistan ended fifth in the standings and was unable to advance to the knockout stages. The T20I team’s skipper, Shaheen Shah Afridi, will have the 31-year-old Rizwan serving as his deputy.

Prior to this, Rizwan held leadership positions both domestically and internationally. After Babar was forced to miss two Test matches due to a broken right thumb, he captained Pakistan against New Zealand in late 2020 and early 2021. Since 2021, Rizwan has led the Multan Sultans in the PSL as captain. The Sultans became victorious in 2021 and advanced to the finals in 2022 and 2023 under his direction. Throughout the 238 T20s he has participated in, he has led in 64 of them.

Being selected as the Pakistan Men’s T20I team’s deputy captain is an honor. Thank you to the PCB for giving me this duty. I’m excited to collaborate closely with the captain, the coaching staff, and my teammates to help the team succeed,” Rizwan stated.

With a remarkable T20I record, Rizwan has amassed 2797 runs at an average of 49.07 across 73 innings, including 25 half-centuries and one century. But in recent years, his strike rate of 127.30 has drawn criticism. Along with taking 41 catches, he has also produced 11 stumpings.

After losing to Australia 3-0 in the Test Aseries, Pakistan is hoping a change in format will result in better fortunes. Five Twenty20 Internationals (T20Is) are slated to be played in New Zealand, with the first one starting in Auckland on January 12. Next up for them is a trip to Hamilton for the second Twenty20 International, then on to Dunedin and finally Christchurch for the last two matches.

@charith