Pakistan's newly appointed white-ball skipper Mohammad Rizwan stated that he had never sought the leadership role actively and accepted it graciously when the opportunity came his way.
On Sunday (October 27), PCB chairman Mohsin Naqvi confirmed Rizwan’s appointment. This decision follows the resignation of former skipper Babar Azam earlier this month.
"I never desired or asked for captaincy. If it's granted by Allah, one shouldn't refuse. I never sought captaincy (kabhi kaptaani nahin maangi)," Rizwan said while addressing the media.
"Regarding the past, everyone had their opinions on this. Even when Saifee was captain, I offered him suggestions, and he did the same for me. Now that I've become captain, all the players will be captains for the team. My focus will be that when I leave cricket, there will be more captain material ready for the team," he added.
Rizwan will begin his stint with the tour of Australia, where the Men in Green are slated to play six limited-overs matches (three ODIs and three T20Is) from November 4 to November 18.
Commenting on his new role, Rizwan said, “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 with each other at any stage, whether things were working for us or not. Because of that, a lot of things worked in our favor back then.”
“The same things are present now also. But the difference is that we have more young talent along with seniors, and we wish that we all as a team gel together. It’s a bit difficult when the seniors are playing and when the young lot comes and takes time to understand things. I guess during the Australia series, we will regain the same momentum that we had earlier,” he further remarked.
Mohammad Rizwan had previously led Pakistan in two Test matches against New Zealand in 2020 when Babar Azam was injured. However, the Australia tour will be the first instance of him leading the limited-overs side.
The Australia tour will also see the return of Babar Azam and Shaheen Afridi in the Pakistan team after the duo was dropped from the last two Tests of the recently held home series against England.
