LAHORE: Pakistan wicketkeeper-batter Mohammad Rizwan has reportedly refused to sign his central contract with the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB), making him the only player among the 30 contracted cricketers yet to do so, sources confirmed on Tuesday.
According to insiders, while all other players have signed their respective deals, Rizwan has withheld his signature after the PCB allegedly rejected a few personal requests he had made prior to finalising the agreement.
“There’s currently no indication that the PCB will revisit Rizwan’s demands,” a source close to the matter revealed, suggesting a potential standoff between the board and the senior batter.
Rizwan was placed in Category B under the newly introduced central contracts — a tier that also includes former captain Babar Azam and nine other players. Interestingly, no player has been awarded a Category A contract this year, an unusual decision that has already raised eyebrows within Pakistan cricket circles.
The contract dispute comes in the wake of Rizwan’s removal from Pakistan’s ODI captaincy, with Shaheen Shah Afridi taking charge ahead of the home series against South Africa.
Rizwan had been appointed Pakistan’s white-ball captain in October 2024, replacing Babar Azam in a major leadership reshuffle by the PCB. His early results were promising — including ODI series wins against Australia and South Africa away from home — but his T20I record proved disastrous, as Pakistan lost all four matches under his captaincy.
The board later stripped him of the T20I role while allowing him to continue as ODI skipper, but pressure mounted after Pakistan’s failure to qualify for the ICC Champions Trophy 2025 knockouts, followed by a 3-0 whitewash against New Zealand and a 2-1 series loss to the West Indies.
Overall, Rizwan led Pakistan in 20 ODIs, winning 9 and losing 11, finishing with a 45% win ratio.
Rizwan’s current stance adds another layer of uncertainty to Pakistan cricket’s ongoing turbulence. With the PCB standing firm on its new contract structure, and Rizwan unwilling to compromise, it remains unclear whether the board will take disciplinary action or seek reconciliation before the South Africa series begins.
