Pakistan left the cricket world stunned on Monday (November 18) after they named their playing XI for the third T20I against Australia at the Ninja Oval in Hobart almost three hours before the toss as they aim to avoid a washout after losing the first two games of the series.The announcement had a glaring omission, with skipper Mohammad Rizwan not in the playing XI. Playing only his third T20I against Pakistan, Salman Ali Agha is leading the visitors. Agha won the toss and chose to bat first in his captaincy debut for the national team. Even Naseem Shah was not named in the playing XI as Jehandad Khan is making his debut for Pakistan.However, it is Rizwan's omission that has caught the eyes of the world. There is no mention from the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) of any injury to the 32-year-old or a confirmation on whether he has been rested. The move has sparked speculation on social media that the wicketkeeper batter has been dropped from the playing XI just two matches after taking charge of the side in the shortest format. Haseebullah has replaced him in the team.See Reactions

Pakistan have already lost the series after losing the opening game by 29 runs despite it being reduced to a seven-over game. Rizwan was dismissed for a duck after facing just two deliveries. In the second T20I, Pakistan lost a low-scoring thriller by 13 runs as they failed to chase down a total of 148. The Pakistan skipper had a disastrous outing as he faced 26 balls and made just 16 runs.Before the T20I series, Rizwan led Pakistan to an ODI series victory in Australia after 22 years. This was his first assignment as the Men in Green skipper across formats. Australia Playing XI: Matthew Short, Jake Fraser-McGurk, Josh Inglis(w/c), Glenn Maxwell, Marcus Stoinis, Tim David, Aaron Hardie, Xavier Bartlett, Nathan Ellis, Spencer Johnson, Adam Zampa Pakistan Playing XI: Babar Azam, Sahibzada Farhan, Haseebullah Khan (wk), Usman Khan, Salman Agha, Irfan Khan, Abbas Afridi, Shaheen Shah Afridi, Jahandad Khan, Haris Rauf, Sufiyan Muqeem