PCB names Rizwan white ball skipper as selectors recall Babar, Afridi and Naseem for limited over series Down Under

By Special Correspondent

LAHORE: The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) Sunday appointed wicketkeeper-batsman Mohammad Rizwan as national team’s white-ball captain with Salman Ali Agha his deputy as the selectors named Pakistan’s squads for the ODI and T20I tours of Australia and Zimbabwe. The 32-year-old Rizwan, who debuted in white-ball cricket in 2015, has played 74 ODIs and 102 T20Is to date, scoring 5,401 runs with four centuries and accounting for 143 dismissals behind the stumps. As Rizwan leads the team in the opening ODI against Australia in Melbourne on November 4, he will become Pakistan’s 31st captain. For the first T20I in Brisbane on November 14, he will be the 12th to captain Pakistan in the format. Salman will lead the T20I side in Zimbabwe as Rizwan is rested under a workload management plan.

The selectors have recalled Babar Azam, Shaheen Afridi and Naseem Shah to national one-day international and Twenty20 squads for next month’s tour of Australia. Babar stepped down as skipper in all three formats last year after Pakistan failed to make the knockout stage of the 50-overs World Cup, before returning as white-ball captain in March for the T20 World Cup where the team did not make the Super Eight. The batting mainstay as well as pace bowler Afridi were left out of Pakistan’s last two Tests against England, and the team wrapped up a 2-1 series win on Saturday. The trio will not feature in the matches against Zimbabwe which follow the Australian series, however, as they will be rested. Wicketkeeper-batsman Mohammad Rizwan will be available for the Australia games and the Zimbabwe ODIs, but will be rested for the T20s.

This approach of “rest” follows the selectors’ rotation policy and provides opportunities to domestic performers, aligning with the team’s strategy for the ICC Champions Trophy and beyond. Uncapped players in the ODI squad include Aamir Jamal, Arafat Minhas, Faisal Akram, Haseebullah, Muhammad Irfan Khan, and Saim Ayub. Jahandad Khan and Salman Ali Agha join the T20I squad for the first time. Kamran Ghulam, Omair Bin Yousuf and Sufyan Moqim make their national side debut, having previously played limited-overs internationals. Kamran served as a concussion substitute for Haris Sohail against New Zealand in an ODI in January 2023, while Omair and Sufyan debuted in the T20I format against Hong Kong during the Asian Games men’s cricket competition. Fast bowler Mohammad Hasnain, player of the Champions One-Day Cup in Faisalabad last month with 17 wickets, also returns to the ODI side, having last represented Pakistan in an ODI against New Zealand in January 2023. Apart from Babar, Naseem, Rizwan, Salman, and Shaheen, four other players have been selected in both the ODI and T20I squads. They are: Arafat Minhas, Haris Rauf, Haseebullah and Muhammad Irfan Khan. Aamir Jamal, Abdullah Shafique, Faisal Akram, Kamran Ghulam, Mohammad Hasnain, and Saim Ayub are selected solely for the ODIs and will be replaced by Jahandad Khan, Mohammad Abbas Afridi, Omair Bin Yousuf, Sahibzada Farhan, Sufyan Moqim, and Usman Khan for the T20Is.

Domestic performers dominate Pakistan squads for Zimbabwe ODIs and T20Is: Ahmed Daniyal, Haris Rauf, Haseebullah, Mohammad Hasnain, Muhammad Irfan Khan and Tayyab Tahir are the other players apart from Salman Ali Agha who have been selected for both the formats. Aamir Jamal, Abdullah Shafique, Abrar Ahmed, Faisal Akram, Kamran Ghulam, Mohammad Rizwan, Saim Ayub and Shahnawaz Dahani have been picked in the ODI side and will be replaced by Arafat Minhas, Jahandad Khan, Mohammad Abbas Afridi, Omair Bin Yousuf, Qasim Akram, Sahibzada Farhan, Mohammad Abbas Afridi and Usman Khan for the shortest format of the game. Haseebullah, Haris Rauf, Muhammad Irfan Khan and Salman Ali Agha are the four players who will be part of the squads from the start of the Australia tour to the end of Zimbabwe tour. Pakistan play three ODIs and three T20Is against both Australia and Zimbabwe. The Australia tour runs from Nov. 4-18, and the matches in Bulawayo will be played from Nov. 24-Dec. 5.

Pakistan squads:

Australia tour:

ODIs: Aamir Jamal, Abdullah Shafique, Arafat Minhas, Babar Azam, Faisal Akram, Haris Rauf, Haseebullah, Kamran Ghulam, Mohammad Hasnain, Mohammad Rizwan, Muhammad Irfan Khan, Naseem Shah, Saim Ayub, Salman Ali Agha, Shaheen Afridi.

T20Is: Arafat Minhas, Babar Azam, Haris Rauf, Haseebullah, Jahandad Khan, Mohammad Abbas Afridi, Mohammad Rizwan, Muhammad Irfan Khan, Naseem Shah, Omair Bin Yousuf, Sahibzada Farhan, Salman Ali Agha, Shaheen Shah Afridi, Sufyan Moqim, Usman Khan.

Zimbabwe tour:

ODIs: Aamir Jamal, Abdullah Shafique, Abrar Ahmed, Ahmed Daniyal, Faisal Akram, Haris Rauf, Haseebullah, Kamran Ghulam, Mohammad Hasnain, Mohammad Rizwan, Muhammad Irfan Khan, Saim Ayub, Salman Ali Agha, Shahnawaz Dahani and Tayyab Tahir.

T20Is: Ahmed Daniyal, Arafat Minhas, Haris Rauf, Haseebullah, Jahandad Khan, Mohammad Abbas Afridi, Mohammad Hasnain, Muhammad Irfan Khan, Omair bin Yousuf, Qasim Akram, Sahibzada Farhan, Salman Ali Agha, Sufyan Moqim, Tayyab Tahir, Usman Khan.

Schedule of Pakistan’s white-ball matches against Australia and Zimbabwe:

November 4: ODI, MCG, Melbourne

November 8: ODI, Adelaide Oval, Adelaide

November 10: ODI, Perth Stadium, Perth

14 November 14: T20I, The Gabba, Brisbane

November 16: T20I, SCG, Sydney

November 18: T20I, Bellerive Oval, Hobart

November 24 – ODI, Bulawayo

November 26 – ODI, Bulawayo

November 28 – ODI, Bulawayo

December 1– T20I, Bulawayo

December 3 – T20I, Bulawayo

December 5 – T20I, Bulawayo.