The Pakistan Cricket Board, on Monday (January 8), announced the appointment of wicketkeeper-batsman Mohammad Rizwan as the vice-captain of the Pakistan T20I team.
The announcement comes just before Pakistan’s five-match T20I series against New Zealand. The Men in Green will begin a new journey in the T20Is with the upcoming series. It will be their first series under the captaincy of Shaheen Afridi.
The left-arm pacer was appointed as Pakistan’s T20I captain after Babar Azam stepped down as the captain in all the three formats following the team’s disastrous performance in the World Cup. And just ahead of the series, the PCB have named Mohammad Rizwan as Afridi’s deputy. The wicketkeeper-batsman recently impressed with the bat in the three-match Test series against Australia.
.@iMRizwanPak has been appointed vice-captain of Pakistan's T20I team 🚨 pic.twitter.com/0Zu6DcstML
— Pakistan Cricket (@TheRealPCB) January 8, 2024
Mohammad Rizwan’s T20I career:
Mohammad Rizwan is an indispensable part of Pakistan’s T20I team. The right-handed batsman has represented Pakistan in 85 T20Is so far and has scored 2797 runs at an average of more than 49 and a strike-rate of over 127. He has hit 1 century and 25 half-centuries in the shortest format of the game. In 2022, he had played a key role in Pakistan’s march to the final of the Asia Cup that was played in the T20 format.
Meanwhile, Pakistan’s tour of New Zealand will begin on January 12. The first match is scheduled to take place in Auckland while the second game will be played in Hamilton on January 14. Dunedin will be the venue for the third game while Christchurch will host the final two T20Is.
Pakistan squad for New Zealand T20Is:
Babar Azam, Mohammad Rizwan, Azam Khan, Shaheen Afridi (c), Haris Rauf, Fakhar Zaman, Saim Ayub, Sahibzada Farhan, Abrar Ahmed, Abbas Afridi, Usama Mir, Mohammad Wasim Jr, Zaman Khan, Haseebullah Khan, Aamer Jamal, Mohammad Nawaz, Iftikhar Ahmed
Pakistan tour of New Zealand 2023 – Schedule:
January 12: New Zealand vs Pakistan, 1st T20I, Eden Park, Auckland
January 14: New Zealand vs Pakistan, 2nd T20I, Seddon Park, Hamilton
January 17: New Zealand vs Pakistan, 3rd T20I, University Oval, Dunedin
January 19: New Zealand vs Pakistan, 4th T20I, Hagley Oval, Christchurch
January 21: New Zealand vs Pakistan, 5th T20I, Hagley Oval, Christchurch