Michael Clarke has been confirmed as Australian captain for the shortest version of the game, replacing Test and one-day international captain Ricky Ponting who retired from international Twenty20 cricket in September.
Clarke, vice-captain in both the one-day and Test arena, gets his chance to lead Australia on a permanent basis having filled in for Ponting when the captain has been injured or unavailable. Victoria's Cameron White will be Clarke's vice-captain.
Clarke praised his predecessor, saying he had learned a lot from Ponting and was looking forward to the challenge of leading his country, especially in next year's ICC World Twenty20 in the West Indies.
"I've learnt a lot from Ricky Ponting over the last few years and I'll continue to learn from him. I'd like to thank Cricket Australia and the CA Board for giving me this opportunity. I'm really excited to lead Australia in the newest form of the game," Clarke said.
"We've got a young and enthusiastic group but we must recognise that we've got a lot of work to do in Twenty20 cricket and our recent form hasn't been good."
"Naturally, we'll target the ICC World Twenty20 in the Caribbean next year and I feel we have plenty of talent to genuinely mount a challenge in that tournament."
"Cameron White will be an excellent deputy and his recent form has been quite outstanding."
Ponting, who will continue to play Twenty20 for both Tasmania and in the IPL should the international schedule allow, endorsed Clarke's succession to the role.
"Michael has continued to grow as a player and a leader. We have developed a strong working relationship and he has always led the team well in my absence. I am sure he will do a very good job with the Twenty20 team and I congratulate him and Cameron White on their appointments," he said.
Cricket Australia CEO James Sutherland said Clarke had shown all the leadership qualities required to lead his country.
"Michael has supported Ricky Ponting excellently in the last couple of years and has been successful when called upon to lead the Australia ODI team on occasion, most recently in England and the UAE," said Sutherland.
"Michael will be supported in the Twenty20 vice-captaincy by Cameron White, whose leadership qualities have been to the fore in recent months and are currently on show at the Champions League Twenty20, where he is leading Victoria in that tournament."
Clarke has played 19 international T20 games, averaging 19.63 at a strike rate of just better than a run a ball. White's eight-game T20 career has seen him average 41.40 at a strike rate of 150.