Rawalpindiz Owner Issues Verdict On Mohammad Rizwan's PSL Captaincy Future

Mohammad Rizwan with the Rawalpindiz cricket team [Source: AFP]

Days after Mohammad Rizwan’s retirement narrative, the owner of Rawalpindiz, Ahsan Tahir, has shared his verdict on the Pakistan veteran’s captaincy stint.

For the unaware, Rizwan is the official captain of the PSL 2026 franchise Rawalpindiz, a franchise which has been performing at their worst.

Mohammad Rizwan himself hasn’t been at his very best with the bat, let alone his captaincy stint, yet the owner of PSL’s latest franchise has shown faith in the 33-year-old.

The horrible campaign of Rawalpindiz in PSL 2026

So far, Rawalpindiz have failed to win any of the matches they have played in the Pakistan Super League 2026. They currently sit at the bottom of the table with zero wins from the seven matches they have played.

Notably, all of these losses have also come by a high margin, which further indicates how dominated they were on the field by other teams. 

Despite being a new franchise, Rawalpindiz were expected to perform decently in this tournament, given the fact that it consists of some big names like Daryl Mitchell, Saad Masood, Usman Khawaja, Mohammad Amir, and Mohammad Rizwan himself.

Their average score in these seven matches stands at only 167, which is considerably low given a high-intensity, high-scoring T20 contest.

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With the ball too, the team have managed to take only 31 wickets in total, with an average of four wickets per match, further signifying the weak bowling department of the team.

Despite these loopholes in the team, the owner of the team showed full faith in the captain, Mohammad Rizwan, after the team is virtually on the cusp of a PSL 2026 exit.

Rawalpindiz Owner breaks silence on Mohammad Rizwan's PSL captaincy

Discarding how Rizwan have performed so far or led on the ground, Tahir shared that he is in absolute awe with the veteran’s dressing room culture.

“I actually have a subjective opinion on the reality that nobody would ever question that the environment of the dressing room when Rizzy is in there is absolutely different compared to any other camp. I am after that environment in the dressing room. I am not after how a person performs individually.

Things will change, conditions change, crowds change, player combinations change, environment changes, context changes. But that value system stays. If that value system is there, you will get a champion team. And for me, I personally feel that Rizzy is the embodiment of that value system,” Tahir shared to the media.

Tahir was hopeful and optimistic of the franchise under Mohammad Rizwan’s leadership, as he believes Rawalpindiz will regroup soon to become the ‘champion’ team.

“I'm pretty sure that under Rizzy's captaincy, we will develop a champion team. And that will be for years to come, Inshallah. I'm very confident of that," Tahir shared.

Tahir shares his thoughts on Rizwan, the captain

Speaking of Rizwan’s leadership skills in PSL 2026, Tahir was also applauding the analytical mindset of the Pakistan wicketkeeper batter while praising his sense of awareness.

“Now, coming to him as a captain, I have had the privilege and the honour of working with him for quite some time. He has a very analytical mind, a very, very analytical mind.

Even when you're working with him on decision-making and planning, he looks at permutations of all scenarios. He is very realistic in terms of what can go right and what can go even worse. So he plans for scenario A, scenario B, scenario C.

So I think if you have a good leader who can act as a guardian and a custodian to the young talent that's coming up, who can partner with the coaching and management staff to come up with the right plan, then I think he is a very right fit there. And now, literally, the whole franchise, as of now, is designed around him,” Tahir concluded.

Nevertheless, with almost out of the contention for the PSL 2026 title, the Mohammad Rizwan-led team will next face the Multan Sultans on April 21, followed by Islamabad United and Hyderabad Kingsmen to end their group stage campaign for this edition of the tournament.

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