Mohammad Rizwan was removed as Pakistan’s ODI captain on Monday (October 20). In place of the wicketkeeper-batter, who led Pakistan to ODI series wins in Australia and South Africa last year, Shaheen Shah Afridi
was appointed as the new skipper. While the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) didn’t give any specific reason behind the reason to sack Rizwan, it has been reported by the Times of India on Tuesday that the 33-year-old right-handed batter from Peshawar was removed because he refused to promote betting companies.
“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,” a PCB source told TOI.
Meanwhile, former Pakistan captain and wicketkeeper-batter Rashid Latif has stated that Rizwan was removed for his comments about Palestine.
“There’s a rumour that Rizwan is no longer the captain. Just because he raised Palestine flag, will you remove him as captain? There’s this mindset that in Islamic country there will be a non-Islamic captain. This is Mike Hesson’s doing. He doesn’t like this culture in the dressing room. He wants this culture to end. We never had a problem be it Inzamam-ul-Haq, Saeed Anwar or Saqlain Mushtaq. Nobody raised any objection…,” Latif said on his YouTube channel Caught Behind.
Rizwan’s record as ODI captain
Rizwan captained Pakistan in a total of 20 ODI matches but could only manage to win nine and suffered defeats in 11. Under his leadership, Pakistan failed to win the ODI tri-series in Pakistan in February 2025 and then failed to qualify for the knockouts of the ICC Champions Trophy 2025 as well. In Rizwan’s last ODI match as captain, Pakistan suffered a humiliating defeat by 202 runs against the West Indies in Tarouba on August 12.
In that fixture, in reply to the total of 294 runs by the West Indies, Pakistan could only manage to score 92 runs in 29.2 overs.
Rizwan, who is no longer part of Pakistan’s T20I side, is likely to keep his place in the ODI squad for the upcoming three-match ODI series against South Africa.
