Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB), have finally announced Mohammad Rizwan as the side’s new ODI and T20I captain, via a special press conference on October 27.
Mohsin Naqvi, the chairman of the PCB, made the announcement at a press conference in Lahore on Sunday, where they also announced all-rounder Salman Ali Agha as the side’s new vice-captain. Rizwan will take over their reins of Babar Azam, who earlier stepped down as the captain of the team in limited-overs cricket.
The 30-year-old Babar was re-appointed as skipper back in March after he initially stepped down following Pakistan’s poor show in the ODI World Cup on Indian soil last year. But the move backfired as Pakistan could not go beyond the group stage in the Men’s T20 World Cup in the West Indies and United Arab Emirates (UAE), which eventually led to Babar yet again stepping down from his role as the side’s skipper.
“We spoke to the 5 mentors of the Champions Cup and the coaches and the majority of them believed that Mohammad Rizwan should be the captain and Salman Ali Agha the vice-captain of the side,” Mohsin Naqvi said in the press conference.
“We spoke to the 5 mentors of the Champions Cup and the coaches and the majority of them believed that Mohammad Rizwan should be the captain and Salman Ali Agha the vice-captain of the side,” he further added.
Rizwan’s first assignment as captain is the tour of Australia where Pakistan will play three ODIs and as many T20Is from November 4 onwards. 32-year-old Rizwan will also lead them in the ODI series against Zimbabwe, starting November 24. Rizwan, in the meantime, retained his spot in Category A on the list of centrally-contracted players for Pakistan.
In another twist of events, now vice-captain Salman Ali Agha will lead Pakistan in the T20I series against Zimbabwe, which stars from December 1 in Bulawayo, as Rizwan is not a part of the squad.
Rizwan has never led Pakistan in ODIs and T20Is, but captained them in two Tests on the tour of New Zealand in 2020-21. Under Rizwan, Multan Sultans won the Pakistan Super League (PSL) in 2021 after which they finished as the runners-up in three successive seasons in 2022, 2023 and 2024.