Rashid Latif, a former cricket player for Pakistan, has accused head coach Mike Hesson of firing Mohammad Rizwan as captain of his country. Rizwan will be replaced as the team's captain for the three-match ODI series by Shaheen Shah Afridi, who was chosen by the Pakistan Cricket Board on Monday.
Latif addressed the rumours before to the board's formal statement, claiming that Rizwan's claimed dismissal as captain was due to his flying of the Palestine flag. He even went so far as to say that Hesson, who plays a significant part in the selection process for the Pakistani squad, wants to curtail what he sees as the team's developing Islamic ethos in the locker room.There are rumours that the captain is no longer Rizwan. Will you remove him as captain simply because he raised the flag of Palestine? There is a belief that a non-Islamic captain will be present in an Islamic nation. Mike Hesson is to blame for this. This culture in the changing room bothers him. He desires the abolition of this civilisation. Whether it was Saeed Anwar, Saqlain Mushtaq, or Inzamam-ul-Haq, we never had an issue. In a video that is becoming viral on social media, Latif stated, "No one objected.
At the same time, Hesson attended the board meeting when Shaheen was chosen as the new captain.
Shaheen will captain Pakistan's ODI team against South Africa, according to a PCB statement following a selection committee meeting that was also attended by Mike Hesson, the country's white-ball head coach.
Following the Champions Trophy and West Indies ODI fiasco, Rizwan was fired.
In November 2024, Rizwan made a strong start to his time as Pakistan's ODI captain by leading the team to a 2-1 victory in Australia, their first series victory there in more over 20 years. With a 2-1 victory in Zimbabwe and a clean sweep versus South Africa at home, the success continued.
When Pakistan lost to New Zealand in the home tri-series final earlier this year and was eliminated early from the Champions Trophy in February, things took a different turn.
Following a 4-1 loss in that series, Shaheen, who had led Pakistan in five Twenty20 Internationals in New Zealand the year before, was fired. On November 4, 6, and 8, the three-match ODI series against South Africa will take place in Faisalabad.