Pakistan officially announced the appointment of Mohammad Rizwan as the vice-captain for their T20I men's team on January 8. Rizwan will serve as the deputy to captain Shaheen Shah Afridi, starting from the upcoming five-match series against New Zealand scheduled to commence on January 12.
Following Babar Azam's resignation as the all-format captain due to the team's disappointing performance in the ODI World Cup in India, fast bowler Afridi has been appointed as the T20I captain. Afridi and his team arrived in Auckland ahead of the series opener on Monday, January 8.
This strategic move, incorporating Afridi and Rizwan into the core leadership group, provides a significant confidence boost for the Pakistan side in preparation for the upcoming T20 World Cup. The 31-year-old, a key player in the T20I team, boasts an impressive record with 85 T20Is for Pakistan, accumulating 2797 runs, including a century and 25 fifties.
Despite being one of the senior players in the team, Rizwan hasn't had the chance to captain the side, even in a stand-in capacity in T20I cricket. However, he played a crucial role during Babar's captaincy tenure. Babar led the team in the T20 World Cup in 2021 and 2022, reaching the final in 2022, a year after a semi-final loss in the UAE.
With fast bowler Afridi leading as captain, appointing Rizwan strategically makes sense, especially considering workload management for their key pacer. Pakistan are gearing up for the T20 World Cup with a comprehensive preparation that kicks off with a five-match series against New Zealand.
The team has included three wicketkeepers – Azam Khan, Haseebullah, and Rizwan, who is likely to play a prominent role as a frontline batter.
Pakistan Squad for NZ T20Is: Shaheen Shah Afridi (captain), Aamir Jamal, Abbas Afridi, Azam Khan (wicket-keeper), Babar Azam, Fakhar Zaman, Haris Rauf, Haseebullah (wicket-keeper), Iftikhar Ahmed, Mohammad Nawaz, Mohammad Rizwan (vice-captain), Mohammad Wasim Jnr, Sahibzada Farhan, Saim Ayub, Usama Mir and Zaman Khan
Full schedule
1st T20 – 12 January 2024 at Eden Park, Auckland
2nd T20 – 14 January 2024 at Seddon Park, Hamilton
3rd T20 – 17 January 2024 at University Oval, Dunedin
4th T20 – 19 January 2024 at Hagley Oval, Christchurch
5th T20 – 21 January 2024 at Hagley Oval, Christchurch
(Powered by AI, Inputs by India Today)
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