The white-ball captain of Pakistan has been announced; Muhammad Rizwan. Since 2017, only four different captains have led Pakistan as a full-time skipper: Sarfaraz Ahmed, Babar Azam, and Shaheen Afridi across both ODIs and T20Is. Sarfaraz and Babar have led Pakistan for at least two years, while Shaheen led in one series before he was removed before Babar was appointed again. Now, Multan Sultans captain Rizwan has been given a chance to lead.
While Rizwan’s announcement came in big support, there were some against the decision to have someone in the “same group as Babar Azam.” But with Salman Ali Agha also announced as his deputy, it feels it is the right time to have this pair go for a while while a future captain gets groomed.
Also Read: The End of Babar Azam’s Captaincy: Relief, Reflection, and a Focus on Batting
Captain Rizwan: Why he is a better choice?
It has been a mystery, especially after the 2023 World Cup, when Rizwan was not announced as the new captain regardless of the format. He has made great contributions, both as a player and as a leader. While best known for his role as a wicket-keeper batter, he also had the opportunity to captain the side in the longest formats.
Rizwan has had limited opportunities in international cricket but had good, long-term success in domestic cricket. His leadership style and contributions have been impactful. In PSL, he led Multan Sultans to the finals in 2021, 2022, 2023 and 2024 and won the title in 2021. In domestic cricket, he led KPK to back-to-back titles in 2020 and 2021 in the National T20 Cup.
But despite all of that, Rizwan has not been considered to take over the leadership until Sunday, 27th October.
On top of that, apart from Shadab Khan, there’s no one ready in the back end to be ready for full-time captaincy. Shadab, however, has been struggling across his career as an All-Rounder in international cricket. There is Fakhar Zaman, but his recent tweet against PCB on dropping Babar Azam midway Test series has killed whatever the little chances he had. Test skipper Shan Masood was another possibility. Although his records in ODIs and T20Is are not up to the mark to lead them.
Guys like Iftikhar Ahmed, Salman Ali Agha, Saud Shakeel and Muhammad Haris have been given chances at domestic and/or PSL level but were not groomed enough and given strong performances to take notice. Although they are not out of the race at all. Haris has led Pakistan Shaheens at the international level and there was a slight chance for him to take over T20I captaincy. But his own performance let his case down.
What to expect from Captain Rizwan?
Rizwan is an excellent leader. He has led Multan Sultans with a not-so-experienced bowling attack and utilized them extremely well. Playing back-to-back finals is no small achievement. On top of that, as a batter himself, Rizwan averages over 45-plus across formats.
His first assignment will be the Australian series, just like how his teammate Babar began his captaincy role. It is going to be a tough series as Pakistan have won only just one game against Australia in their den since 2006.
Pakistan have won the bilateral series against Australia only thrice in their ODI history; two at home and one away. The one away win came in 2002 under Wasim Akram and the latest series win came two years ago under Babar Azam.
However, Pakistan never won a T20I series in Australia. That is a stretch, actually. They have played only one T20I series in Australia where Babar made his captaincy debut.
So it is a big task for a new skipper but a great challenge is ahead.
Perhaps the biggest test for Rizwan will be the 2025 Champions Trophy when Pakistan will defend their title at home.
Let’s hope Pakistan’s fortunes change with the new leader.
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