Shahid Afridi: “Babar Azam was given ample opportunities as captain, but why Mohammad Rizwan was only given six months in the role”
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Former Pakistan power-hitter Shahid Afridi has questioned why Mohammad Rizwan was given so little time as T20I captain when Babar Azam got “ample opportunities”.
Rizwan lost the leadership role in T20Is to Salman Ali Agha, who succeeded him prior to Pakistan’s tour of New Zealand.
Considering Rizwan barely had any time to showcase his captaincy skills, Afridi doesn’t understand why the men in green are constantly making sudden changes.
“Babar Azam was given ample opportunities as captain, but why Mohammad Rizwan was only given six months in the role,” he was quoted as saying by Cricket Pakistan.
Rizwan recently captained the Multan Sultans in the 2025 Pakistan Super League (PSL) and accumulated 367 runs in 10 games, which included a century and a fifty, at an average of 52.42 and a strike-rate of 139.54.
He was then left out of Pakistan’s squad for their T20I series against Bangladesh in Lahore, the T20I tour of Bangladesh, and the T20I series against the West Indies.
Despite losing the T20I captaincy, Rizwan led Pakistan in the three-match ODI series against the West Indies and scored 69 runs, which included a top score of 53, at an average of 23.
Pakistan are now playing a T20I tri-series against the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Afghanistan in Sharjah, which will end on September 7.
Following this, the men in green will take part in the 2025 Asia Cup, which will be held in the UAE from September 9 to 28.
Rizwan was not included in the team Pakistan unveiled for the T20I tri-series and Asia Cup.
Pakistan squad for UAE T20I tri-series and 2025 Asia Cup:Â Salman Ali Agha (captain), Abrar Ahmed, Faheem Ashraf, Fakhar Zaman, Haris Rauf, Hasan Ali, Hasan Nawaz, Hussain Talat, Khushdil Shah, Mohammad Haris (wicketkeeper), Mohammad Nawaz, Mohammad Wasim Jnr, Sahibzada Farhan, Saim Ayub, Salman Mirza, Shaheen Shah Afridi, Sufiyan Muqeem
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