On 20th October, the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) declared that Mohammad Rizwan will no longer be captain of the country’s ODI squad. The left-arm bowler Shaheen Shah Afridi will take his position before the forthcoming home series against South Africa. Rizwan’s refusal to support betting companies led to his dismissal as captain, reported The Times of India.
A PCB source disclosed, “Rizwan had informed the PCB that he wouldn’t endorse betting companies, which is the main reason behind his sacking. He was against the PCB’s collaboration with surrogate betting firms.” She previously declined to wear and promote a betting company’s logo while he was a member of the St Kitts and Nevis Patriots in the Caribbean Premier League (CPL) earlier this year. The main sponsor’s symbol which belonged to a betting website was absent from the jersey he wore while playing.
Rashid Latif, a former captain of Pakistan, suggested that Rizwan’s remarks regarding Palestine could br another possible explanation behind the decision. “If he has spoken about Palestine, will you remove him from captaincy? This mindset that there would be non-Islamic captains in an Islamic country is abysmal,” he claimed on his YouTube channel “Caught Behind.”
Pakistan’s three-match ODI series against South Africa is set to take place at the Iqbal Stadium in Faisalabad from 4th to 8th November. The development concerning captaincy transpired after a meeting in Islamabad with white-ball head coach Mike Hesson, Director High Performance Aqib Javed and selection committee members.
Since 2023, Pakistani cricket has seen numerous captain changes with different players leading the team in various forms under multiple PCB administrations. It started on 13th March 2023 when Najam Sethi named Shadab Khan captain for the T20I series against Afghanistan in Sharjah. A significant upheaval occurred on 15th November later that year when Shaheen Shah Afridi was named T20I captain under Zaka Ashraf while Shan Masood led the Test team after Babar Azam resigned as captain of all three formats.
On 29th March 2024 Afridi was dismissed as the white-ball captain by Mohsin Naqvi, the newly appointed PCB chief. Babar Azam was reinstalled as the T20 captain for the team just two days later, on 31st March. His second spell, meanwhile, was brief. He once more resigned as white-ball captain on 1st October, making room for Mohammad Rizwan, who was named the captain on 27th October.
There were more changes to come. Salman Ali Agha was appointed T20I captain on 4th March 2025, carrying on the pattern of leadership changes. Afridi eventually returned to leadership on 20th October when he was named Pakistan’s ODI captain once more, this time under Mohsin Naqvi.
On 20th October, the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) declared that Mohammad Rizwan will no longer be captain of the country’s ODI squad. The left-arm bowler Shaheen Shah Afridi will take his position before the forthcoming home series against South Africa. Rizwan’s refusal to support betting companies led to his dismissal as captain, reported The Times of India.
A PCB source disclosed, “Rizwan had informed the PCB that he wouldn’t endorse betting companies, which is the main reason behind his sacking. He was against the PCB’s collaboration with surrogate betting firms.” She previously declined to wear and promote a betting company’s logo while he was a member of the St Kitts and Nevis Patriots in the Caribbean Premier League (CPL) earlier this year. The main sponsor’s symbol which belonged to a betting website was absent from the jersey he wore while playing.
Rashid Latif, a former captain of Pakistan, suggested that Rizwan’s remarks regarding Palestine could br another possible explanation behind the decision. “If he has spoken about Palestine, will you remove him from captaincy? This mindset that there would be non-Islamic captains in an Islamic country is abysmal,” he claimed on his YouTube channel “Caught Behind.”
Pakistan’s three-match ODI series against South Africa is set to take place at the Iqbal Stadium in Faisalabad from 4th to 8th November. The development concerning captaincy transpired after a meeting in Islamabad with white-ball head coach Mike Hesson, Director High Performance Aqib Javed and selection committee members.
Since 2023, Pakistani cricket has seen numerous captain changes with different players leading the team in various forms under multiple PCB administrations. It started on 13th March 2023 when Najam Sethi named Shadab Khan captain for the T20I series against Afghanistan in Sharjah. A significant upheaval occurred on 15th November later that year when Shaheen Shah Afridi was named T20I captain under Zaka Ashraf while Shan Masood led the Test team after Babar Azam resigned as captain of all three formats.
On 29th March 2024 Afridi was dismissed as the white-ball captain by Mohsin Naqvi, the newly appointed PCB chief. Babar Azam was reinstalled as the T20 captain for the team just two days later, on 31st March. His second spell, meanwhile, was brief. He once more resigned as white-ball captain on 1st October, making room for Mohammad Rizwan, who was named the captain on 27th October.
Salman Ali Agha was appointed T20I captain on 4th March 2025, carrying on the pattern of leadership changes. Afridi eventually returned to leadership on 20th October when he was named Pakistan’s ODI captain once more, this time under Mohsin Naqvi.
