Mohammad Rizwan replaces Babar Azam as Pakistan's white-ball skipper

Mohammad Rizwan replaces Babar Azam as Pakistan's white-ball skipper (PTI/File Photo)

The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) on Sunday appointed Mohammad Rizwan as the new white-ball skipper. The wicketkeeper-batter replaces Babar Azam at the helm, while Salman Ali Agha has been named as his deputy. The announcement from PCB came hours after they released the squad for the upcoming limited-over tours to Australia and Zimbabwe. Rizwan has represented Pakistan in 74 ODIs and 102 T20Is. In both the formats, Rizwan averages 40.15 (ODIs) and 48.72 (T20Is).

“We will give him (Rizwan) all the support that is needed. We need to back our young talent, and we also need to strengthen our domestic cricket structure," PCB chief Mohsin Naqvi told reporters during a press conference.

Dousing the fire sorrounding Babar's white-ball captaincy being snatched, Naqvi, who is the board chairman, informed that the batter was not sacked from the position. He confirmed that it was Babar's decision to step down from the position to focus on his own game.

Babar had relinquished the white-ball captaincy ahead of the Test series against England, which Pakistan won 2-1. Babar had then in a lengthy statement released on social media had confirmed that he took the decision to "prioritise his performance".

Babar was part of the Test series but was dropped from the squad after a subpar show in the series opener, which Pakistan lost despite piling over 550 runs in the first innings. The PCB had then also snubbed pacers Shaheen Shah Afridi and Naseem Shah from the second and third Test against England.

Meanwhile, former skipper Babar, pacers Shaheen and Naseem on Sunday returned to the Pakistan team for the upcoming white-ball series in Australia. The Pakistani selectors announced the ODI and T20I squads for the tours of Australia and Zimbabwe starting next month.

The Australia tour is slated to run from November 4-18. It will be followed by a three-match ODI and T20I series against Zimbabwe in Bulawayo, which will be played from November 24 to December 5.

Pakistan will then tour to South Africa for three ODIs, three T20Is, and two Tests in December-January.