Pakistan cricketer Ahmed Shehzad, who is currently not in favor, has strongly criticized fellow player Mohammad Rizwan for using ‘religion’ to explain his poor performance in the recent T20 World Cup. Rizwan spoke to the media in his hometown of Peshawar on Tuesday, discussing both Pakistan’s and his personal performance in the tournament. Rizwan’s performance in the T20 World Cup was not good; he scored 110 runs with an average of 36.66 and a low strike rate of 90.90.
Rizwan agreed that the team’s criticism is fair. But he also made an unusual statement, saying he is the “brand ambassador of Islam.”
“I think a person is a representative of two things. If someone is a Muslim, they show what Islam is wherever they go. The second thing is that they represent Pakistan. It doesn’t matter what anyone says,” Rizwan mentioned in a press conference.
Shehzad, on the other hand, criticized Rizwan for changing the subject about his performance by bringing up religion.
“It’s really frustrating that some players are trying to cover up their bad performance in the World Cup by having unnecessary press conferences and talking about religion. What does religion have to do with lying about being fit or admitting they were faking it on the field? Does religion tell you to trick others and lie on the field? You’re supposed to play well on the field and work as a team. Religion tells us to do our best and not lie about our problems. Some people who speak for these players want them to get another chance, but why should they? This is the Pakistan team, not their personal team where they can do whatever they want. If they want another chance, they should make their own team and play with their friends, but they shouldn’t be part of the Pakistan cricket team anymore,” Shehzad said in a long post on X.
Shehzad emphasized that the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) needs to take strong actions against the players.
“We won’t let PCB Chairman Mohsin Naqvi forget the major changes he promised. Some players from the Pakistani team are now making fun of the chairman’s statement because they don’t care. But we will ensure that fans get their answers and action is taken against these players. We have taken a stand, and we will not back down until this Pakistan team is back on the right track,” he added.
This follows Shehzad’s earlier call for the board to remove all the senior players from the team.
