Mohammad Amir: “I don’t think Mohammad Rizwan has been treated fairly. Rizwan was not a bad one-day captain. Captaincy should not depend on just one good or bad series”
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Pakistan left-arm seamer Mohammad Amir expressed his disappointment at the fact that Mohammad Rizwan was removed as ODI captain.
Rizwan was succeeded by fast bowler Shaheen Shah Afridi, who was named as the new skipper on October 20, 2025.
Amir cannot understand why the change was made, pointing out that Rizwan “was not a bad one-day captain” and had the skills needed to excel in the leadership role.
“I don’t think Mohammad Rizwan has been treated fairly. Rizwan was not a bad one-day captain. 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,” he was quoted as saying by A Sports.
“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 he has that knack of captaincy.”
Pakistan recently played a home series against South Africa, where they drew the Test series 1-1 and won both the T20Is and ODIs 2-1.
They were then in action in a three-match ODI series against Sri Lanka and won 3-0.
Pakistan’s next assignment will be a T20I tri-series against Sri Lanka and Zimbabwe from November 18 to 29.
Pakistan squad for Sri Lanka and Zimbabwe T20I Tri-Series: Salman Ali Agha (captain), Abdul Samad, Abrar Ahmed, Babar Azam, Faheem Ashraf, Fakhar Zaman, Mohammad Nawaz, Mohammad Wasim Jnr, Salman Mirza, Naseem Shah, Sahibzada Farhan, Saim Ayub, Shaheen Shah Afridi, Usman Khan (wicketkeeper), Usman Tariq
Reserves: Haris Rauf, Sufiyan Muqeem