PCB set to appoint THIS player as Pakistan's next white-ball captain; likely to pick Babar for Australia tour

"Mohammad Rizwan because of his seniority, his reliability as a player and because of his experience of leading teams well in domestic cricket and PSL is a front runner to become white-ball captain,” the PCB source told PTI on Friday.

Pakistan are set to announce highly-anticipated squads for the upcoming white-ball series against Australia in the next two days. The Pakistan Cricket Board is reportedly looking to unveil Mohammad Rizwan as the next white-ball captain.

After Babar Azam's shock decision to resign from captaincy earlier this month, the PCB is yet to pick his successor. Pakistan tour Australia for the six-match white-ball series starting on November 4 but remain without a captain. 

According to a report from the PTI, the PCB chairman and white-ball head coach Gary Kirsten met with the selection committee members in Karachi on Friday and finalised Rizwan's name as Babar Azam's successor.

The third Test against England finishes on 28th October and the squad has to leave for Australia the next day so the selectors would be announcing the white ball squad by Sunday," the PCB source told PTI. "Rizwan because of his seniority, his reliability as a player and because of his experience of leading teams well in domestic cricket and PSL is a front runner to become white-ball captain.”

Rizwan's name emerged as the leading candidate when Babar decided to step down on October 2. Rizwan has been a consistent performer in the white-ball cricket tournament and also boasts leadership experience having led Multan Sultans to three consecutive finals in the Pakistan Super League. 

Apart from Rizwan, the rumours of Shaheen Afridi being the top contender for the white-ball captaincy tole were also surfaced but the PCB are looking to keep faith in the experienced wicketkeeper batter. 

Rizwan, 32, has scored 2088 in 67 ODI innings at an impressive average of 40.15 and has 3313 runs in 89 T20I innings at a strike rate of 126.45. He is a consistent performer for Pakistan an international cricketer having maintained a 40-plus batting average across all three formats.