Days after the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) replaced Mohammad Rizwan with Shaheen Shah Afridi as Pakistan’s ODI captain, former Pakistan pacer Mohammad Amir has termed the decision as unfair and was of the view that captaincy should not be dependent on one good or bad series. Rizwan, who has so far played in 94 ODIs in his career, was appointed the Pakistan ODI captain in October 2024 and the 33-year-old was replaced by Afridi in a PCB meeting attended by white-ball head coach Mike Hesson, Director of High Performance Aqib Javed, along with members of the national selection committee in Islamabad on Tuesday.
“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. Captaincy should not depend on just one good or bad series. We are all responsible for this – former cricketers and analysts included. We don’t allow stability in our cricket,” Amir told Geo Super.
After taking over the ODI captaincy in October 2024, Rizwan led Pakistan to a historic 2-1 series win against hosts Australia, the country’s first bilateral series win in Australia in 22 years. Rizwan followed the series win with a home series 2-1 win against Zimbabwe and a 3-0 home series win against South Africa. Earlier this year, Pakistan failed to win the ODI tri-series including New Zealand and South Africa at home, with a loss against New Zealand in the final. The tri-series loss was followed by the Pakistan ODI team failing to get past the group stage in the Champions Trophy in the UAE, before the team lost the ODI series in New Zealand 3-0. In recent months, Pakistan lost the three-match ODI series against hosts West Indies 2-1.
Amir also shared that captains are not made overnight and it takes two to three years to build one. “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.
