The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) has stirred controversy by removing Mohammad Rizwan as the captain of the men’s ODI team, replacing him with pacer Shaheen Shah Afridi ahead of the upcoming series against South Africa. Former fast bowler Mohammad Amir expressed disappointment over the board’s sudden decision, emphasizing that Rizwan had proven himself as a capable leader.
Mohammad Amir questions PCB’s decision to sack Rizwan
Amir, who has closely followed Pakistan cricket, feels Rizwan’s contributions were overlooked despite his successes on challenging tours abroad.
“𝑰 𝒅𝒐𝒏’𝒕 𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒌 𝑴𝒐𝒉𝒂𝒎𝒎𝒂𝒅 𝑹𝒊𝒛𝒘𝒂𝒏 𝒉𝒂𝒔 𝒃𝒆𝒆𝒏 𝒕𝒓𝒆𝒂𝒕𝒆𝒅 𝒇𝒂𝒊𝒓𝒍𝒚. 𝑹𝒊𝒛𝒘𝒂𝒏 𝒘𝒂𝒔 𝒏𝒐𝒕 𝒂 𝒃𝒂𝒅 𝒐𝒏𝒆-𝒅𝒂𝒚 𝒄𝒂𝒑𝒕𝒂𝒊𝒏. 𝑯𝒆 𝒍𝒆𝒅 𝑷𝒂𝒌𝒊𝒔𝒕𝒂𝒏 𝒕𝒐 𝒔𝒆𝒓𝒊𝒆𝒔 𝒘𝒊𝒏𝒔 𝒊𝒏 𝑺𝒐𝒖𝒕𝒉 𝑨𝒇𝒓𝒊𝒄𝒂 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝑨𝒖𝒔𝒕𝒓𝒂𝒍𝒊𝒂 — 𝒔𝒐𝒎𝒆𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒏 𝒔𝒐𝒎𝒆 𝒐𝒇 𝒐𝒖𝒓 𝒃𝒊𝒈𝒈𝒆𝒔𝒕 𝒄𝒂𝒑𝒕𝒂𝒊𝒏𝒔 𝒄𝒐𝒖𝒍𝒅𝒏’𝒕 𝒂𝒄𝒉𝒊𝒆𝒗𝒆. 𝑾𝒆 𝒔𝒉𝒐𝒖𝒍𝒅 𝒏𝒐𝒕 𝒉𝒂𝒗𝒆 𝒇𝒐𝒓𝒈𝒐𝒕𝒕𝒆𝒏 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕,” 𝑨𝒎𝒊𝒓 𝒔𝒂𝒊𝒅, 𝒂𝒔 𝒒𝒖𝒐𝒕𝒆𝒅 𝒃𝒚 𝑮𝒆𝒐 𝑺𝒖𝒑𝒆𝒓.
Former Cricketer Suggests Gradual Leadership Transition
Amir also criticized the PCB for its abrupt approach, suggesting that captaincy should not be judged solely on one series. He believes that building a strong leader requires stability and time, which Rizwan was not given.
“𝑪𝒂𝒑𝒕𝒂𝒊𝒏𝒄𝒚 𝒔𝒉𝒐𝒖𝒍𝒅 𝒏𝒐𝒕 𝒅𝒆𝒑𝒆𝒏𝒅 𝒐𝒏 𝒋𝒖𝒔𝒕 𝒐𝒏𝒆 𝒈𝒐𝒐𝒅 𝒐𝒓 𝒃𝒂𝒅 𝒔𝒆𝒓𝒊𝒆𝒔. 𝑪𝒂𝒑𝒕𝒂𝒊𝒏𝒔 𝒂𝒓𝒆 𝒏𝒐𝒕 𝒎𝒂𝒅𝒆 𝒐𝒗𝒆𝒓𝒏𝒊𝒈𝒉𝒕; 𝒊𝒕 𝒕𝒂𝒌𝒆𝒔 𝒕𝒘𝒐 𝒕𝒐 𝒕𝒉𝒓𝒆𝒆 𝒚𝒆𝒂𝒓𝒔 𝒕𝒐 𝒃𝒖𝒊𝒍𝒅 𝒐𝒏𝒆. 𝑩𝒖𝒕 𝒉𝒆𝒓𝒆, 𝒐𝒏𝒆 𝒃𝒂𝒅 𝒔𝒆𝒓𝒊𝒆𝒔 𝒊𝒔 𝒆𝒏𝒐𝒖𝒈𝒉 𝒕𝒐 𝒓𝒆𝒑𝒍𝒂𝒄𝒆 𝒂 𝒄𝒂𝒑𝒕𝒂𝒊𝒏. 𝑰 𝒅𝒐𝒏’𝒕 𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒌 𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒊𝒔 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒓𝒊𝒈𝒉𝒕 𝒄𝒂𝒍𝒍. 𝑹𝒊𝒛𝒘𝒂𝒏 𝒊𝒔 𝒂 𝒔𝒎𝒂𝒓𝒕 𝒄𝒂𝒑𝒕𝒂𝒊𝒏 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒉𝒂𝒔 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒌𝒏𝒂𝒄𝒌 𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝒍𝒆𝒂𝒅𝒆𝒓𝒔𝒉𝒊𝒑,” 𝑨𝒎𝒊𝒓 𝒂𝒅𝒅𝒆𝒅.
The ex-player further recommended that Shaheen could have been eased into the role by first serving as vice-captain, allowing his leadership and fitness to be assessed before fully taking over.
“𝑰𝒇 𝑺𝒉𝒂𝒉𝒆𝒆𝒏 𝒉𝒂𝒅 𝒕𝒐 𝒃𝒆 𝒎𝒂𝒅𝒆 𝒄𝒂𝒑𝒕𝒂𝒊𝒏, 𝒉𝒆 𝒄𝒐𝒖𝒍𝒅 𝒉𝒂𝒗𝒆 𝒇𝒊𝒓𝒔𝒕 𝒃𝒆𝒆𝒏 𝒂𝒑𝒑𝒐𝒊𝒏𝒕𝒆𝒅 𝒂𝒔 𝒗𝒊𝒄𝒆-𝒄𝒂𝒑𝒕𝒂𝒊𝒏 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒑𝒆𝒓𝒇𝒐𝒓𝒎𝒂𝒏𝒄𝒆 𝒋𝒖𝒅𝒈𝒆𝒅 𝒂𝒄𝒄𝒐𝒓𝒅𝒊𝒏𝒈𝒍𝒚 — 𝒆𝒔𝒑𝒆𝒄𝒊𝒂𝒍𝒍𝒚 𝒄𝒐𝒏𝒔𝒊𝒅𝒆𝒓𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒇𝒊𝒕𝒏𝒆𝒔𝒔,” 𝑨𝒎𝒊𝒓 𝒄𝒐𝒏𝒄𝒍𝒖𝒅𝒆𝒅.
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