The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) on Sunday announced wicketkeeper Mohammad Rizwan as captain and batting all-rounder Agha Salman as the vice-captain of the cricket team for the white-ball format.
The decision came after former captain Babar Azam announced on X platform on October 2 that he was stepping down as Pakistan’s One-day International and T20I skipper, saying he wanted to focus on his playing role.
The national selection committee was tasked with finding the next white-ball captain following Azam’s resignation from the position.
While speaking to the media in Lahore, PCB chairman Mohsin Naqvi announced Rizwan and Salman as the captain and vice-captain of the cricket team for the one-day international and T20 international, respectively.
Earlier in the day, the cricket board had announced the squad for the upcoming matches against Australia and Zimbabwe.
According to Pakistan’s squad, the skipper Rizwan was not included in the T20I line-up against Zimbabwe.
“Our selection committee has worked hard,” Naqvi said. “They went through every case and a final list has been issued today.”
The chairman added that the committee met on Saturday night to finalise the squads for upcoming tours of Australia and Zimbabwe.
Naqvi then spoke about Azam, calling him an “asset” for Pakistan.
“Players like this only emerge after a long time,” the chairman said. “He reached out to me about stepping down as captain, but nobody from the PCB contacted him.
“He took advice from his coaches and then told me that he did want to continue as captain,” Naqvi said. “He wants to focus on his game and we all want him to regain his form.”
The chairman added that after Azam relinquished his captaincy, the PCB started internal consultations with the five selection committee members and five mentors.
“There was a nearly unanimous opinion that Rizwan should be the captain after Babar and Salman should be vice-captain,” he said. “They were already in talks with selectors and after that, I met Rizwan yesterday as well.
“I wish them the best and pray for their success,” Naqvi said, adding that the board needs to “promote young talent and respect domestic cricket”. He appreciated the work of the selection committee during the test series against England, stating they “worked non-stop for two days at a time”.
“No doubt the team performed but this selection committee is also behind these victories, it’s important to appreciate them,” Naqvi said, adding that the committee, captain and coach will “make a good combination and play these upcoming series”.
Selection committee member Aqib Javed said, “There is no such formula (for winning) … we should use our home advantage. He said that the team plays “different cricket” whether at home or away, or playing red-ball or white-ball. “I see a good future for white-ball cricket as well,” he added.
Rizwan said that during the recent Champions Cup, there was an observable difference between senior and young players. “Currently as I have gotten in, the selectors, team management and mentors are all on one page to work towards developing our young talent and that’s the best thing.
“It is our biggest priority to bring our young talent to the international level,” the newly appointed skipper said.
‘Poor fitness’
Responding to a question about batting ace Fakhar Zaman’s contract, Naqvi said that a post on X was “definitely” an issue but said that he did not receive a central contract due to poor fitness.
Fakhar was served a show-cause notice by the PCB following a social media message criticising the decision to drop Babar for the test series against England.
“Definitely, Fakhar Zaman’s tweet was an issue but more importantly, he didn’t clear his fitness test,” the chairman said. “In the connection camp, Fakhar spoke very well and we have also fixed things in our international department based on what he said.”
Naqvi maintained that players cannot criticise the decisions made by the selection committee. He added that Fakhar needs to clear his fitness test after receiving the show-cause notice.
