On October 20, Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) sacked Mohammad Rizwan as ODI captain and replaced with Shaheen Afridi. Rizwan was not even mentioned in the media release following his lacklustre run as ODI captain in 2025. While his performance and lack of PCB's patience is highly likely to be the reason behind the sacking, former Pakistan captain Rashid Latif has a bizarre take. He feels that Rizwan picking up the Palestine flag, and his intent to have a religious culture in the dressing room is the reason why head coach Mike Hesson wanted a change in the leadership.
"Just because he picked up the Palestine flag, you would sack him as captain? This mindset has come that a non-Islamic captain should come in an Islamic country," Latif said in a video shared on social media.
"Mike Hesson is the one behind this decision, right? He isn't someone who likes this culture in the dressing room. Why aren't they understanding? He has a team of 5-6 people. He would want to finish such a culture in the dressing room. We never cared about these things, even in times when Inzamam ul Haq, Saeed Anwar or Saqlain Mushtaq were in the team," he added.
In ODI World Cup 2023, Rizwan had made a statement on Gaza after his match-winning knock against Sri Lanka. Earlier this year, he pledged support (1 lakh PKR for every six and wicket) to Palestinian charities via his Pakistan Super League (PSL) franchise Multan Sultans.
Rizwan’s blazing start and dull end to ODI captaincy tenure
Rizwan was named Pakistan’s ODI captain after their 2023 ODI World Cup debacle. In 2024, he led them to series win against Sri Lanka, Australia and South Africa. However, in 2025, his captaincy stocks dipped. After tri-series and bilateral series defeat to New Zealand, Pakistan’s early exit from the ICC Champions Trophy 2025.
Will Rizwan be retained in ODI squad vs South Africa?
Pakistan are yet to announce their squad for the ODI squad for the series against South Africa next month. It will be interesting to see if Rizwan retains his place. Recently, he scored a half-century against South Africa in the opening Test of the series.