Mohammad Rizwan, an experienced wicketkeeper-batsman, is said to be the leading candidate for the captaincy of the Pakistan team in the limited-overs formats, which will be announced by the PCB when the tour party for the series in Australia, Zimbabwe and South Africa is declared. The Pakistan ’s selectors also held discussions with the PCB Chairman Mohsin Naqvi and lastly on white ball coach Gary Kirsten.
“A key figure in the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) revealed that the third Test against England ends on the 28th of October while the players’ flight to Australia is on the next day, so the selectors should make an announcement on the white ball compartment by Sunday.”
‘Rizwan because of his seniority, his reliability as a player, and because he has successfully led teams in domestic and PSL competitions is a strong candidate for the white ball captain,’ the insider said.
Bantam Azam had resigned from the position of Pakistan captain at the beginning of this month after stating that his concentration needed to be on batting.
They are expected to play nine ODIs and nine T20 internationals in this tour of Australia, Zimbabwe and South Africa. Before coming back, they have also prepared to play two Tests against South African sides.
The source makes it clear, however that if the Board has now caps placed for selecting the captain. Aaqib, Azhar Ali and Aleem Dar have reportedly spoken to Rizwan about taking on the role and gauged his availability.
The source explained that the selectors believe Babar Azam, Shaheen Shah Afridi, and Naseem Shah will be part of the white ball squad since they have been rested and not played any Tests against England for two matches.
In Multan, Pakistan defeated England by 152 runs in the second match of the series to level the 3-match series.
“The selectors are also looking at including few younger players in the team hence the probability of having different squads for the three tours is high with an aim of giving more players a chance and also providing a break to the senior players,” the source confirmed.
