With the tenth edition of the Pakistan Super League (PSL) only a day away, the captains of all six franchises assembled for a press conference. With the reporter asking a question to Peshawar Zalmi captain Babar Azam about when will he have his say about Pakistan cricket's problems, Mohammad Rizwan stepped in to answer the question.
After three consecutive ODI series wins over Australia, South Africa and Zimbabwe, Rizwan has experienced a massive slide as ODI captain. Under the keeper-batter, Pakistan failed to go past the group stage in Champions Trophy 2025 and suffered a 3-0 ODI whitewash to New Zealand.
The reporter asked Rizwan at 18:40 in the aforementioned video:
"No doubt Pakistan cricket ka bura waqt chal raha hai. PSL ek aisa hai jisme cricket ko aap dobara revive kar sakte hain. Rizwan saab aapse sawaal yeh hai, chan din pehle ek clip viral ho raha hai ki aapke bas mein kuch nahin hai, aapke bas mein kya nahin hai kyunki aap Pakistan team ko represent kar rahe hain."
(No doubt Pakistan cricket is going through a tough phase. PSL is a tournament with which cricket can be revived. My question to Rizwan is a clip is going viral of nothing is in your control. What is not in your control, given you are representing Pakistan and the team's white-ball skipper)
The reporter turned his attention to Babar and asked:
"Maujooda team performances jo chal rahe hain, kis din aap kuch bolenge? jis don poori team khatam ho jaayegi, tab aap bolenge, kya ho raha hai, kya nahin ho raha hai Pakistan team mein?"
(Given the team's recent performances, when do you plan on saying anything? Will you step in when Pakistan cricket will be finished and say about what has been going on?")
"Dekhiye mere bas mein kya hai, kya nahin hai. Agar aapko lagta hai hamaare chehre gire hue hain, toh hamaare media ko acchi tarah pata hai, kya ho raha hai, kya nahin ho raha. Hum sab players ke paas apni apni authority hai. Jis bande ko jo authority hai, woh uska jawaab dega. Main bhi jawaab doon aur woh bhi jawaab de. Mere paas jiska jawaab hai main uska jawaab doonga."
(Look, what is in my control and what is not. Whole media knows what's happening. I again say it openly, I don't have full authority as a captain. Captain has a different authority, and head coach has a different, but every person should be answerable for their respective authorities).
Mohammad Rizwan was the PSL-winning skipper in 2021
Rizwan, meanwhile, had captained the Multan Sultans in the 2021 edition to title victory when they defeated Peshawar Zalmi by 47 runs in the final in Abu Dhabi. However, Sultans had fallen short in the previous season as Islamabad United edged them out by two wickets in the final.
As far as the 2025 edition is concerned, they will open their campaign against the Karachi Kings in Karachi on April 12.
