Newly-appointed Pakistan white-ball skipper Mohammed Rizwan vowed to defeat Australia on their home territory in the upcoming series starting from November 4 onwards and laid down the long-term targets of the team as a captain.
As the Pakistan team gears up for the limited-overs tours of Australia and Zimbabwe next month, the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) announced Rizwan as their new skipper with Salman Ali Agha as vice-captain. Rizwan has replaced Babar Azam.
Speaking in a video posted by PCB, Rizwan said that though Pakistan has faced difficulties in Australia over the years, the team will still try to take the positives and defeat the 2023 50-over World Cup champions in their own territory. The series against Australia will start from November 4, consisting of three ODIs and T20Is each.
Speaking in the video, Rizwan said, "There is no doubt that we have faced difficulties in Australia because when you look at the past results, they show that we had some trouble there. But I believe the team going now will meet the nation's expectations."
"In the last series we played in Australia, every match was almost ours to win, but we lost very closely. We have noticed a few things and will work on them when we go there, taking positives from it. Inshallah, Australia ko Australia mein haraenge (God willing, We will beat Australia in Australia)," he added.
The last time Pakistan captured an ODI series in Australia was in 2002, when they won the three-match series 2-1 under the captaincy of pacer Waqar Younis. Their last series in Australia saw them lose by 1-4. They have never won a T20I series in Australia though.
On his long-term plans as a captain, Rizwan said, "We have the next year's Champions Trophy and the ICC T20 World Cup in 2026 as a vision. Also, if it is possible, we will look at Olympics 2028 as well. We will prepare accordingly. We are ready for all kinds of obstacles."
The first batch of players will depart for Melbourne on October 28, with the rest of the squad following on October 29. Following the Australia tour, Pakistan will travel to Zimbabwe for another white-ball series, which will start from November 24.
