Ramiz Raja: “Why was Rizwan removed as vice-captain for no reason? Who was going to benefit from this decision?”
Image taken by: Bimal Mirwani
Former Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) chairman Ramiz Raja wants to know why Mohammad Rizwan was stripped of the vice-captaincy in limited overs cricket.
He noted that Rizwan does have leadership experience as he leads the Multan Sultans in the Pakistan Super League (PSL).
On top of this, he also has a great relationship with current captain Babar Azam.
Given all this and the fact that he is one of the team’s top performers with the bat, Ramiz questioned who will benefit from removing the 30-year-old from the leadership role.
“Why was Rizwan removed as vice-captain for no reason? Who was going to benefit from this decision?” he was quoted as saying by Cricket Pakistan.
Rizwan recently captained the Sultans in PSL 8 and helped them reach the final, where they lost to the Lahore Qalandars by one run.
He played an instrumental role in his team’s campaign as he was the top run-scorer in the tournament with 550 runs in 12 games, which included a century and four fifties, at an average of 55 and a strike-rate of 142.85.
Pakistan are now playing three T20Is against Afghanistan, but Rizwan has been rested for the series.
Pakistan squad for T20I series against Afghanistan: Shadab Khan (capt), Abdullah Shafique, Azam Khan (wk), Faheem Ashraf, Iftikhar Ahmed, Ihsanullah, Imad Wasim, Mohammad Haris (wk), Mohammad Nawaz, Mohammad Wasim, Naseem Shah, Saim Ayub, Shan Masood, Tayyab Tahir, Zaman Khan
Reserve players: Abrar Ahmed, Haseebullah, Usama Mir