Mohammad Rizwan in action (Courtesy: Mohammad Rizwan/Twitter)

Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB), on Monday, promoted their prolific batter Mohammad Rizwan as the vice-captain for the upcoming T20I series against New Zealand. Rizwan will be Shaheen Shah Afridi”s deputy in the five-match T20I series, starting from January 12.

The much-anticipated move will be a new chapter in the Pakistan cricket team after Babar Azam stepped down from the captaincy role, following their debacle in the 2023 World Cup in India. Shaheen and Rizwan are expected to form the core leadership group in the run-up to the 2024 T20 World Cup.

“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,” Rizwan said.

The veteran wicketkeeper-batter will enter the leadership role for the national team for the first time. He was a crucial part of the  Pakistan team during the T20 World Cup in 2021 and 2022, where the team made it to the semi-final and final respectively.

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

Full schedule:

1st T20 – 12 January 2024 at Eden Park, Auckland

2nd T20 – 14 January 2024 at Seddon Park, Hamilton

3rd T20 – 17 January 2024 at University Oval, Dunedin

4th T20 – 19 January 2024 at Hagley Oval, Christchurch

5th T20 – 21 January 2024 at Hagley Oval, Christchurch