Pakistan’s newly appointed white-ball captain Mohammad Rizwan on Sunday asserted that he is here to “serve the 15 men” of the team and not behave like a “king.” Prior to the limited-overs tours to Australia and Zimbabwe scheduled for the next month, the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) appointed the star wicketkeeper-batter Mohammad Rizwan as their new captain with Salman Ali Agha in the role of vice-captain. He has replaced Babar Azam. Rizwan speaking at a press conference in Lahore noted that their team would do everything in their power to ensure that “there’s no lack of fight” in the team.
“If I start thinking that as a captain I am a king, then it will be the end of everything. More so, my duty as a leader is to ensure that the 15 men on the team are well taken care of. That ought to be the case. In terms of accomplishments, there are voices and energies in our box who are all telling us one thing: fight. Fight and fight. They keep sending this message irrefutably, and we will do our best, to prove to the entire country that there is no fight in us,” Rizwan added.
Rizwan further spoke about how he is reluctant to take up the position of captain due to the expectations it carries. He, however, stated that there are some specific things involved, which include doing tasks, going for presentations and addressing the press.
“See, concerning these speculations, they might have picked it up from somewhere; however, if I belong to a group, then that consists of the Pakistan team’s group–our complete group. Now that I am the captain, let me state that I feel every single member of the Pakistan team is a captain in their own respect. My views as the captain are to execute duties, go for meetings and give out press statements. I am doing these things, and, all of us Pakistan team captains also, because as you can see everyone is leading in one way or the other,” he added
Pakistan has announced 15-member squads for the forthcoming white-ball series tours to Australia and Zimbabwe starting from November 4 onwards, with the inclusion of star batter Babar Azam rested for the Zimbabwe tour earlier in the day.
On the contrary, Mohammad Rizwan will be available for the two Australia matches and the ODIs in Zimbabwe, however, will not take part in the T20Is.
Pakistan are also set to feature a total of three players on the international stage for the first time – Kamran Ghulam, Omair Bin Yousuf and Sufyan Moqim, while Aamir Jamal, Arafat Minhas, Faisal Akram, Haseebullah, Muhammad Irfan Khan, and Saim Ayub are newcomers to the ODI squad for the first occasion.
ODI squad for Australia: Aamir Jamal, Abdullah Shafique, Arafat Minhas, Babar Azam, Faisal Akram, Haris Rauf, Haseebullah (WK), Kamran Ghulam, Mohammad Hasnain, Mohammad Rizwan (WK), Muhammad Irfan Khan, Naseem Shah, Saim Ayub, Salman Ali Agha, Shaheen Shah Afridi.
T20I squad for Australia: Arafat Minhas, Babar Azam, Haris Rauf, Haseebullah (WK), Jahandad Khan, Mohammad Abbas Afridi, Mohammad Rizwan (WK), Muhammad Irfan Khan, Naseem Shah, Omair Bin Yousuf, Sahibzada Farhan, Salman Ali Agha, Shaheen Shah Afridi, Sufyan Moqim, Usman Khan
ODI squad for Zimbabwe: Aamir Jamal, Abdullah Shafique, Abrar Ahmed, Ahmed Daniyal, Faisal Akram, Haris Rauf, Haseebullah (WK), Kamran Ghulam, Mohammad Hasnain, Mohammad Rizwan (WK), Muhammad Irfan Khan, Saim Ayub, Salman Ali Agha, Shahnawaz Dahani and Tayyab Tahir.
T20I squad for Zimbabwe: Ahmed Daniyal, Arafat Minhas, Haris Rauf, Haseebullah (WK), Jahandad Khan, Mohammad Abbas Afridi, Mohammad Hasnain, Muhammad Irfan Khan, Omair bin Yousuf, Qasim Akram, Sahibzada Farhan, Salman Ali Agha, Sufyan Moqim, Tayyab Tahir and Usman Khan
