Former Pakistan skipper Mohammad Rizwan has refused to sign the central contract offered by the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB).
The PCB has offered a central contract to 30 players. Mohammad Rizwan is among the leading players who have been demoted from category A to category B. He has also not been selected for the T20I series against visiting South Africa. He has also been removed from the captaincy of the ODI team.
According to the media reports, the wicketkeeper-batter is the only player who has yet to sign the central contract. Reportedly, the leading run scorer in the T20Is after Babar Azam, has refused to sign a contract after the PCB rejected his personal demands.
As per the insiders, the PCB is presently not ready to address the grievances of Mohammad Rizwan.
In 2024, Mohammad Rizwan replaced star batter Babar Azam as white-ball skipper. Under his leadership, Green shirts won away ODI series against Australia and South Africa. Back-to-back losses in the shortest format caused the PCB to appoint Salman Ali Agha as the T20I captain.
Under his captaincy in the ODI format, Pakistan failed to qualify for the knockout stage of the ICC Champions Trophy 2025. After that, Pakistan faced a whitewash against New Zealand and a 2-1 series loss to the West Indies. Due to this, the PCB appointed Shaheen Shah Afridi as the Pakistan captain in the ODI format.
