LAHORE - Mohammad Rizwan is set to lead Pakistan’s T20I team, becoming the 12th man to be in-charge, after a drought-breaking ODI series win over Australia last week. Pakistan will take on Australia in the three T20I matches on November 14, 16 and 18 in Brisbane, Sydney and Hobart, respectively.
Six players - Jahandad Khan, Mohammad Abbas Afridi, Omair Bin Yousuf, Sahibzada Farhan, Sufiyan Moqim and Usman Khan joined the T20I squad in Brisbane on 11 November after undergoing a five-day training camp in Karachi. Pakistan and Australia’s last bilateral face-off in the T20I format came in March 2022 when the two teams played a one-off T20I in Lahore which Australia won.
In Pakistan’s last T20I series in Australia in November 2019, the hosts won 2-0 after the opening game ended up as no result. Josh Inglis will lead Australia in the T20I series while Tim David and Nathan Ellis have joined Australia’s T20I squad. Josh Philippe has replaced injured Cooper Connolly.
Pakistan T20I captain Mohammad Rizwan said: “We are confident after beating Australia in the ODI series but international cricket is always challenging so we aim to do things as better as we can going into this T20I series against Australia.“We have determined the roles of various players in the team and look forward to executing our best plans not just in this series but also in the upcoming white-ball fixtures against Zimbabwe and South Africa.
“My intent is to keep everyone in the group involved and positive about the game. Of course, the conditions have helped the bowlers on this tour so far but we also want to prove our mettle as a batting unit and I look forward to an exciting contest in the three matches,” he added.
Meanwhile, captain Mohammad Rizwan has extended a warm welcome to the Indian cricket team if they tour Pakistan to participate in the upcoming ICC Champions Trophy 2025. “KL Rahul, Suryakumar Yadav are all welcome. All the players who will come, we will welcome them.
“This is not our decision; this is PCB’s decision. Whatever decision will take place, hopefully they will all discuss and take the right call. But we are hopeful that if the Indian players will come, we will welcome them,” Rizwan added.
PAKISTAN T20I SQUAD: Mohammad Rizwan (capt, wk), Salman Ali Agha (vc), Arafat Minhas, Babar Azam, Haris Rauf, Haseebullah, Jahandad Khan, Mohammad Abbas Afridi, Muhammad Irfan Khan, Naseem Shah, Omair Bin Yousuf, Sahibzada Farhan, Shaheen Shah Afridi, Sufyan Moqim, Usman Khan.
SCHEDULE OF MATCHES
Nov 14 1st T20I Brisbane 1:00 pm
Nov 16 2nd T20I Sydney 1:00 pm
Nov 18 3rd T20I Hobart 1:00 pm
