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Following Pakistan's elimination from the ICC Men's Champions Trophy 2025, Mohammad Rizwan has been requested to step down as the team's white-ball captain. New Zealand's five-wicket victory over Bangladesh at the Rawalpindi Cricket Stadium formally eliminated defending champions Pakistan, who are hosting an ICC tournament after 29 years. Sikander Bakht, a former cricket player for Pakistan, claimed that because Mohammad Rizwan lacks the ability to communicate or explain himself, he was never the best candidate for captain.
Sikander Bakht on Rizwan
In their first two Champions Trophy matches Pakistan lost to both India and New Zealand. The squad's lack of quality and the team's timid on-field performance have drawn criticism. Similar to Rizwan, Sikander Bakht stated that Babar Azam was never the best candidate to lead Pakistan as captain. After Babar Azam resigned as captain, Rizwan assumed leadership of the white-ball team.
"Firstly, Mohammad Rizwan should resign as the captain. Whenever he speaks, I am not able to understand what he says. A person who cannot speak or express himself, what sort of a captain would he be? We have seen his captaincy on the field. He is a bad choice to be the captain. I said the same about Babar Azam as well," Bakht told Geo News.
The former Pakistan cricket player, who participated in 26 Test matches and 27 One-Day Internationals, remarked that these players' central contracts ought to be terminated and that they should only be brought back after their performances begin to improve.
It should be noted that Pakistan's failure to get to the semi-finals of the Champions Trophy means it is the third consecutive ICC tournament where they failed to reach the knockout stage. Pakistan has previously lost badly in the 2023 ODI World Cup and 2024 T20 World Cup group rounds.
"We have to make changes. End their central contracts. Don't give them central contracts till the team starts performing. There should be some performance. In corporate setup, you are given a task. If you don't do it, you are asked to pack up and leave," he said.
On Thursday, Pakistan will play Bangladesh in a Group A match at Rawalpindi. However, since both teams have been eliminated from the semi-final race, the match is a dead rubber.
