Mohammad Rizwan has officially replaced Babar Azam as Pakistan’s white-ball captain. The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) announced this latest leadership change on October 28 after Babar Azam resigned as captain to refocus on his personal performance.
However, Mohammad Rizwan’s role as the new white-ball captain of the Pakistan cricket team comes with a new twist as the star wicketkeeper-batsman will only lead the team on the field but his influence on the team selection will be will be limited to an advisory role. Only capacity.
Mohammad Rizwan accepts national team advisory role as Pakistan’s new white-ball captain
Rizwan was said to have initially been hesitant to take up the captaincy of Pakistan in limited overs cricket, but the star gloveman accepted the Pakistan Cricket Board’s (PCB) new policy, where final decisions on team selection will be taken alone. by the selection committee.
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Rizwan’s input on Pakistan’s ODI and T20I team selections and XI will now be strictly advisory, with no voting rights, and the PCB will ease the pressure on the captain. With a new selection and leadership process, all eyes are now on Rizwan to boost Pakistan’s ambitions.
Riwan accepted the new system: Source PCB
A source was quoted by PTI: “After discussions with Pakistan Cricket Board president Mohsin Naqvi and senior selector Aaqib Javed, Riwan accepted the new system where his input in the selection process would be strictly consultative”.
In addition to the change, the PCB also confirmed that Gary Kirsten has resigned from his position as white-ball coach, citing concerns over the sole advisory role in team selection. The source added: “Under the new policy, the selection committee is now responsible for selecting the touring teams and eleven players.”
On the other hand, Pakistan Test coach Jason Gillespie will now guide the white-ball quads on their upcoming crucial tour of Australia, which will be Rizwan’s first assignment as captain.
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Mohammad Rizwan contemplates team unity as he prepares to lead Pakistan on crucial tour of Australia
After becoming Pakistan’s white-ball captain, Mohammad Rizwan stated: “One of my wishes is to see the Pakistan team in the same kind of atmosphere that we had a couple of years ago. We were all together at any time, whether things were working out for us or not. Therefore, back then many things worked in our favor.”
Rizwan further noted, “The same things are present now too. But the difference is that we have more young talent along with the older ones, and we want us all to be a team. It’s a little difficult when the older players play and when the younger players come and take their time to understand things. I guess during the Australia series we will regain the same momentum we had before.”
Notably, Pakistan recently won the Test series 2-1 at home against England and will then face Australia in the first ODI on November 4. They will also play three T20Is on the tour of Australia.
