Babar Azam set to play under Mohammad Rizwan’s captaincy

Pakistan skipper Babar Azam will play under the captaincy of wicketkeeping batter Mohammad Rizwan as Global T20 Canada League franchise Vancouver Knights appointed him the captain of the team.

In a Facebook post, Vancouver Knights announced the right-handed batter’s appointment as the skipper of the team along with giving him title of ‘sir’.

“Hear ye, hear ye! The Vancouver Knights have chosen their captain for GT20 Season 4: Sir Muhammad Rizwan! ????️ With his mighty batting skills and sharp wicketkeeping, he’s ready to lead our charge to victory. Prepare for battle, Knights!,” the franchise wrote in post.

Rizwan, Babar Azam, Asif Ali and Mohammad Amir are set to play for the Knights in Global T20 Canada League’s season 4 that is set to begin on July 25 and its final will be held on August 11 in Canada.

New Zealand’s Michael Rippon, South African Dwaine Pretorius, Namibia’s Ruben Trumpelmann and Guyana’s Jeremy Gordon are also part of the Knights.

It is pertinent to mention that a total of seven Pakistani cricketers including Rizwan, Asif Ali, Mohammad Amir, Iftikhar Ahmed, Shaheen Shah Afridi and Mohammad Nawaz will be seen in action in the league.

Shaheen and Nawaz will represent Toronto Nationals and Iftikhar will be a part of Bangla Tigers Mississauga.

The league will feature cricketers from several countries including Mohammad Nabi, Sunil Narine, Shakib Al Hasan Rahmanullah Gurbaz, David Wiese, Hazratullah Zazai, David Warner and Carlos Brathwaite.

Montreal Tigers are the defending champions of the GT20 Canada as they defeated the Knights in the final in 2023. Rizwan was part of the Knights last year as well.

Apart from Asif and Nawaz, the other five players were part of the Pakistan squad for the recently concluded T20 World Cup 2024.

The Men in Green were eliminated from the tournament in the group stage following their two consecutive losses to the United States of America (USA) and India.