Mohammad Rizwan Accused of Insulting PCB, Faces Backlash Over ₹60 Lakh Monthly Contract

Mohammad Rizwan Accused of Insulting PCB: Pakistan cricket is never short of drama and controversy. Reports from the Pakistani media say that Rizwan, the ODI captain, opted to play club cricket instead of the National T20 Cup (a PCB-organised tournament), a decision that has come under fire from all quarters. Former Pakistan pacer Sikander Bakht also joined the chorus, calling for PCB chairman Mohsin Naqvi to be "strict" and terminate Rizwan's central contract.

Rizwan is already facing criticism after Pakistan's unimpressive outing in the ICC Men's Champions Trophy, where the side was eliminated at the group stage. Following this debacle, Rizwan was dropped from Pakistan's T20I team and now finds himself out of the ongoing five-match T20I series against New Zealand.

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Speaking on Tuesday after Pakistan's defeat in the second T20I against New Zealand, Sikander Bakht mentioned that centrals are "employees" of PCB and they must be available for every tournament organized by the board.

He also told Mohsin Naqvi to be a bit stricter and impose severe penalties on the offenders.

"They are employees of the Pakistan Cricket Board. They get 60 lakh per month, so they must play in the tournaments the PCB is organising. The buck stops with PCB. They have to make sure that players are available. If you are playing club cricket and not playing the tournament the board has organised, it means you are insulting the PCB," Bakht told Geo Super.

"This shouldn't happen. Mohsin Naqvi needs to be strict. He comes off as a polite person, but he needs to change his ways. You have to ask what is happening. Be strict. Stop their central contracts," he added.

How did Rizwan perform in the Champions Trophy?

Rizwan did not inspire confidence in the Champions Trophy; for the second encounter with India, Rizwan only scored a paltry 46. In those two games, he was able to muster only 49 runs in total with scores of 3 and 46 against New Zealand and India, respectively.

Many analysts bashed Rizwan for his innings of 46 against India, laying blame on him for not looking to score runs quickly during the middle overs phase.

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Rizwan earlier took over captaincy of the ODI format of cricket from Babar Azam. Under Rizwan, the Pakistan cricket team won an ODI series in November 2024 against Australia.

From there, it has been down south again. In the meantime, Pakistani bowler Sarfaraz Nawaz also slammed Rizwan for his body language during their Champions Trophy match against India.

“There's no doubt about that (India are ahead of Pakistan). When I watched the toss, I saw the reaction of the Pakistan captain (Mohammad Rizwan). He looked lost somewhere. I don't know if it was due to pressure, but he didn't look the same as he generally does,” Nawaz told Cricbuzz.

“Unlike in other matches, he wasn't blabbering at all; he was just quiet. I don't know what went wrong there. Pakistan's selection was very poor," he added.

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