PCB appoints Mohammad Rizwan as a white-ball team captain

Lahore: The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) on Sunday appointed wicketkeeper Mohammad Rizwan as captain and batting all-rounder Agha Salman as the vice-captain of the cricket team for the white-ball format.

Speaking to the media in Lahore, PCB chairman Mohsin Naqvi stated that 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”.