‘Mohammad Rizwan informed PCB that he wouldn't endorse…’ - Shocking reason behind Rizwan's sacking revealed: Report

In a shocking turn of events, Mohammad Rizwan was sacked as the ODI captain of Pakistan after the wicketkeeper-batter's refusal to endorse betting companies, read a report at TOI. Rizwan, who took over Pakistan's white-ball leadership duties in 2024, was earlier dropped as captain in T20Is earlier this year. He was not even named in Pakistan's Asia Cup 2025 squad, where they emerged as runners-up to India.

Based on the report, Rizwan was against PCB's collaboration with the surrogate betting firms. “Rizwan had informed the PCB that he wouldn’t endorse betting companies, which is the main reason behind his sacking. He was against the PCB’s collaboration with surrogate betting firms,” a source privy to the developments was quoted as saying in the report.

This is not the first time Rizwan refused to endorse betting companies. Earlier, during the Caribbean Premier League (CPL), Rizwan wore a St Kitts and Nevis Patriots jersey without the main logo, which belonged to a betting firm.

Meanwhile, former Pakistan captain Rashid Latif opined that Rizwan's sacking might be due to his comments about Palestine. “If he has spoken about Palestine, will you remove him from captaincy?” Latif said on his YouTube channel. “This mindset that there would be non-Islamic captains in an Islamic country is abysmal,” he added.

How Pakistan changed ODI captains in one year?

It must be noted that the appointment of Shaheen Afridi on Monday as the new ODI skipper was Pakistan Cricket Board's (PCB) third in the past 12 months. Since Mohsin Naqvi took charge in 2024, the PCB first removed Shaheen Afridi to bring Babar Azam in the first part of 2024. However, Babar got the axe after Pakistan exited from the group stage of T20 World Cup 2024, including a loss to minnows USA.

Babar was replaced by Rizwan, who led the national team to ODI series wins in South Africa, Australia and Zimbabwe. However, Pakistan's recent losses in ICC Champions Trophy, and in the series against West Indies and New Zealand, made the cricket board rethink. Rizwan was stripped of T20I captaincy earlier this year with Salman Ali Agha replacing him.

This will Shaheen's second stint as Pakistan captain. Previously, he has captained the national team for just five T20Is. In 66 ODIs and 92 T20Is, Shaheen Afridi took a combined 249 wickets. In Tests, excluding the ongoing second game against South Africa, the left-arm pacer took 120 wickets in 32 matches so far.