On January 8, Pakistan named Mohammad Rizwan as their T20I vice-captain. Rizwan will replace Shaheen Shah Afridi in the upcoming five-match series against New Zealand, which begins on January 12.
Shaheen Afridi took over for Babar Azam, who resigned down as captain of all formats following the ICC World Cup 2023 disaster. The team lead by Afridi arrived in Auckland prior of the opening game.
Shaheen Afridi and Mohammad Rizwan have long been part of the team. Rizwan has a strong batting record, having scored 2797 runs in 85 T20Is. He has a total of 125 half-centuries.
Rizwan has never had the opportunity to serve as a leader. During Babar Azam’s tenure, he was critical to the team’s chances. Pakistan reached the ICC T20 World Cup semi-finals and finals in 2021 and 2022, respectively.
The addition of Rizwan will also assist management in managing the workload of their new captain, Shaheen Afridi.
Pakistan will have three wicketkeepers for the series against New Zealand: Azam Khan, Haseebullah, and Rizwan.
Pakistan squad for 5 T20Is against New Zealand
Shaheen Shah Afridi (captain), Aamir Jamal, Abbas Afridi, Azam Khan (wicket-keeper), Babar Azam, Fakhar Zaman, Haris Rauf, Haseebullah (wicket-keeper), Iftikhar Ahmed, Mohammad Nawaz, Mohammad Rizwan (vice-captain), Mohammad Wasim Jnr, Sahibzada Farhan, Saim Ayub, Usama Mir and Zaman Khan
Full schedule of the NZ-PAK series
1st T20 – 12 January 2024 at Eden Park, Auckland
2nd T20 – 14 January 2024 at Seddon Park, Hamilton
3rd T20 – 17 January 2024 at University Oval, Dunedin
4th T20 – 19 January 2024 at Hagley Oval, Christchurch
5th T20 – 21 January 2024 at Hagley Oval, Christchurch
