Rawalpindi: Pakistan men’s white-ball cricket team head coach Mike Hesson on Monday explained the exclusion of veteran wicketkeeper-batsman Mohammad Rizwan from the squad for the ODI series against Australia and his removal from the captaincy in October last year.
Former skipper Rizwan, who led Pakistan to successive ODI series wins against Australia, Zimbabwe and South Africa after starting his captaincy in late 2024, could not retain his place as a player after a poor performance against Bangladesh.
The 33-year-old has been replaced by fellow wicketkeeper-batsman Rohail Nasir in the Green Shirts squad for the three-match domestic series against Australia, scheduled to run until June 4, while Muhammad Qazi Ghauri retained his place after making his debut against Bangladesh in February.
The development came hours after reports that Hesson was not in favor of Rizwan’s inclusion in the ODI set-up following the results of the T20 format, indicating a possible change in Pakistan’s white-ball direction, and that he was not even considered for the ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup 2027 in South Africa, Zimbabwe and Namibia.
Having amassed 2979 runs in 94 innings at a healthy average of 40.80, Rizwan’s dismissal from ODIs has been the subject of debate among cricket fans, some of whom accused Hesson of unfairness against the wicketkeeper batsman.
Meanwhile, according to the latest development, the Pakistan head coach has clarified that Rizwan’s exclusion is part of their plans to explore “options” ahead of the World Cup, adding that it was decided by the selection committee.
“For this series, you will have noticed that in the one-day series, Bangladesh have made a lot of changes to bring in some new players and Mohammad Rizwan was still in the squad. And in this series, we have made some more changes,” Hesson told reporters.
“Because we have the World Cup in 18 months, so we have to look at the options we have from the working people’s point of view, that’s something the selection committee has decided,” he added.
Hesson further addressed Rizwan’s removal from the ODI captaincy in August 2025 following a 2–1 series defeat against the West Indies.
“At the time I came, Rizwan wasn’t in the T20I team; he certainly wasn’t the captain. So, he hasn’t played T20 cricket since I got involved,” Hesson said.
“In terms of ODIs, yes, Mohammad Rizwan started as the captain in the West Indies and we felt we needed a change at the end of that series because we had won two games in 12 months. So, the team was underperforming.
“Obviously, you look at two things: you look at the individual numbers and you look at how you can increase the team’s performance. So we felt we wanted to make a change from a captaincy point of view.”