Vancouver Knights have preferred Mohammad Rizwan as their skipper for the GT20 Canada 2024 ahead of Babar Azam. Rizwan hasn’t captained Pakistan, but has tasted success with the Multan Sultans in the Pakistan Super League (PSL). Babar, on the other hand, is the current national captain and also leads Peshawar Zalmi in the PSL.
“The Vancouver Knights have chosen their captain for GT20 Season 4: Sir Mohammad Rizwan. With his exceptional batting skills and sharp wicketkeeping, he’s ready to lead us to victory. Get ready, Knights!” the G20 Canada franchise wrote in a statement.
Babar and Rizwan are the 4 Pakistani cricketers in their squad, along with veteran fast bowler Mohammad Amir and middle-order batter Asif Ali. Their squad also has the likes of international names, including Dwaine Pretorius, Sandeep Lamichhane, Dipendra Singh Airee, Paul van Meekeren and Ruben Trumpelmann.
Vancouver Knights squad for GT20 Canada
Babar Azam, Mohammad Rizwan, Mohammad Amir, Asif Ali, Michael Rippon, Dwaine Pretorius, Sandeep Lamichhane, Dipendra Singh Airee, Paul van Meekeren, Ruben Trumpelmann, Jeremy Gordon, Harsh Thaker, Rishiv Joshi, Sarmad Anwar, Shubham Sharma, Yuvraj Samra, Ajayveer Singh, Mandeep Girdhar
Tough times for Babar Azam
As far as Babar is concerned, Babar hasn’t had the best of times of late. Earlier this year, he returned as the Pakistan skipper in white-ball cricket, but he hasn’t tasted much success. In the T20 World Cup 2024, the Men in Green failed to go through to the Super 8. They began with a defeat to the United States in a game that went down to the Super Over.
Thereafter, Pakistan lost to Rohit Sharma’s India by 6 runs in New York after failing to chase down 120 on a difficult track to bat on. Although, Pakistan defeated Canada and Ireland, the wins were not enough for them to advance to the second round.
In 4 matches, Babar scored 122 runs at an average of 40.66 and a strike-rate of 101.66 with a top score of 44. The Pakistan captain also faced criticism from former cricketers, including Virender Sehwag, who said that Babar does not deserve a place in their national team.
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