Did Rizwan lose ODI captaincy for promoting religion in dressing room?

The role of cricket captain has been a game of musical chairs in Pakistan in recent years, so it was hardly a surprise when Shaheen Afridi, leader of the pace attack, was named ODI captain in place of Mohammed Rizwan on Monday. However, a stunning claim in this regard by a former Pakistan captain on his YouTube channel has created a stir in cricket circles.

Rashid Latif, the former stumper known for his controversial comments, has accused New Zealander Mike Hesson, the team's white-ball coach, of initiating a move to get Rizwan out for his attempts to foster ‘Islamic culture’ in the team and express solidarity with Palestine in public.

Even before the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) made it official, Latif said on his channel: “There’s a rumour that Rizwan is no longer the captain. Just because he raised the Palestine flag, will you remove him as captain? There’s this mindset that in an Islamic country, there will be a non-Islamic captain. This is Mike Hesson’s doing. He doesn’t like this culture in the dressing room. He wants this culture to end. We never had a problem be it Inzamam-ul-Haq, Saeed Anwar or Saqlain Mushtaq. Nobody raised any objection…,’’ Latif said.

The veracity of his statement is difficult to check but the decision to make Afridi the captain was taken after a meeting with Hesson, director of high performance Aquib Javed, and members of the selection committee. Rizwan, a proven performer in white-ball cricket, did not do too badly in these troubled times for Pakistan cricket, having led in 20 ODIs, which included bilateral series wins over Australia and South Africa.

The green shirts had nine wins and 11 defeats under Rizwan, but he had to apparently pay for Pakistan’s poor showing in the 2025 Champions Trophy earlier this year, where it made a first-round exit.

Incidentally, it was only during the 2023 ICC World Cup that Rizwan had dedicated his century against Sri Lanka in Hyderabad to the people of Gaza. The ICC has a rule forbidding players from making political statements, though they are free to use their own media platforms away from the field of play.

Usman Khawaja, the Australian opener, has been a known crusader for the Palestine cause in recent years, while back in 2014, the ICC had banned England allrounder Moeen Ali from wearing wristbands saying 'Save Gaza' and 'Free Palestine'.

Meanwhile, this isn’t the first time that Afridi will be leading Pakistan in international cricket, with his first assignment coming up against South Africa at home next month. When Babar Azam resigned as captain of all three formats after the 2023 showpiece in India, the left-arm pacer was named T20I captain. The stint was a brief one though, as Pakistan went down 1-4 in a five-match T20I series in New Zealand, following which Afridi was sacked and replaced by Babar.