Pakistan's former opening batter Ahmed Shehzad has criticised white-ball captain Mohammad Rizwan's tactical decisions ahead of the ICC Champions Trophy 2025, questioning his leadership and strategic awareness.
Speaking on his YouTube channel, Shehzad criticized Rizwan’s call to bat first in the recently concluded tri-series final against New Zealand, labeling it a "brainless decision" that failed to consider pitch conditions.
He pointed out that Pakistan, despite knowing that the pitch favors chasing teams in night matches, chose to set a target—ultimately leading to their five-wicket defeat.
“Pakistan’s bubble has burst ahead of the Champions Trophy,” Shehzad remarked.
“It was a mind-boggling decision (to bat first) because we had already seen that the pitch gets better for batting at night.
The ball doesn’t grip for spinners, yet the Pakistan team still decided to bat first. No clue—brainless decision,” he added.
The 33-year-old also took issue with Rizwan’s team selection, specifically questioning the omission of a specialist bowler in favor of an all-rounder.
He argued that this move weakened Pakistan’s bowling attack and showed the captain’s preference for a deep batting lineup over a balanced team composition.
“In every decision, the Pakistan captain wants to play safe with batting—whether it’s being a spinner short in the Champions Trophy squad or, in this match, playing (bowling all-rounder) Faheem Ashraf to strengthen the batting lineup at the expense of (fast bowler) Mohammad Hasnain, yet still using Ashraf for just two overs,” he stated.
Shehzad further warned that Pakistan’s over-reliance on opponents' mistakes, rather than executing their own game plan effectively, could cost them in the Champions Trophy.