Babar Azam is at the moment combating a lean patch. After a somewhat quiet ODI Cricket World Cup 2023, the place he couldn’t go away a giant mark, Babar Azam resigned from the captaincy of the Pakistan cricket group. Shan Massod took over the Test captaincy whereas Shaheen Afridi took over the T20I captaincy. After the Cricket World Cup, Pakistan’s first project was a three-Test collection in opposition to Australia which it misplaced 3-0. Babar Azam didn’t have a great Tour in Australia too as he may go previous the 40-mark solely as soon as in six innings.

The Pakistan cricket group will subsequent face New Zealand in a T20I collection. The preparation for it has already begun. In a video which has gone viral on social media, it may be seen that Babar Azam is having a go on the nets. One of his highly effective pictures even hit Pakistan bowling coach Saeed Ajmal.

Pakistan’s first coaching session occurring in Auckland. They are working towards for New Zealand T20Is

Babar Azam’s shot has hit Saeed Ajmal, hope he is positive and nothing severe #NZvsPAK pic.twitter.com/F1x8sC49tY

— Farid Khan (@_FaridKhan) January 8, 2024

Batter Mohammad Rizwan has been appointed as Pakistan’s T20I vice-captain, becoming a member of the management group beneath captain Shaheen Shah Afridi, the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) introduced on Monday.

“Rizwan’s first assignment as deputy to Shaheen Shah Afridi will be the five-match T20I series against New Zealand, scheduled to take place in New Zealand from 12 January,” PCB mentioned in an official assertion.

Babar Azam introduced his resolution to step down as Pakistan captain from all codecs of the sport after his aspect’s debacle within the ICC World Cup 2023 in India final yr. Later, PCB introduced that Afridi would take over as T20I captain after Babar’s resolution to step down.

The 31-year-old Rizwan has featured in 85 T20Is, amassing 2,797 runs, together with one century and 25 half-centuries. Behind the stumps, Rizwan has taken 41 catches and 11 stumpings.

Reacting to the appointment, The 31-year-old acknowledged that he’s wanting ahead to working with the teaching employees and new captain in the course of the collection.

“It is an honour to be named as the vice-captain of Pakistan Men’s T20I side. I am thankful to the PCB for entrusting me with this responsibility. I am looking forward to working closely with the captain, coaching staff, and my teammates to contribute to the team’s success,” Mohammad Rizwan was quoted as saying by PCB.

Afridi will lead a 17-player squad in opposition to New Zealand within the T20I bilateral collection.

Full squad: Shaheen Shah Afridi (captain), Mohammad Rizwan (vice-captain and wicket-keeper), Aamir Jamal, Abbas Afridi, Azam Khan (wicket-keeper), Babar Azam, Fakhar Zaman, Haris Rauf, Haseebullah (wicket-keeper), Iftikhar Ahmed, Mohammad Nawaz, Mohammad Wasim Jnr, Sahibzada Farhan, Saim Ayub, Usama Mir and Zaman Khan.

With ANI inputs