‘Rizwan ke ego pe ek bahut bada thappad’ - Fans react as Sarfaraz Ahmed replaces Mohammad Rizwan in first Test against New Zealand

On 26 December 2022, Pakistan kicked off the two-match Test series at their home against New Zealand. Babar Azam was looking to lead his team to victory in this series after Ben Stokes and Co. whitewashed them at home in the last Test series. Several players like Mohammad Rizwan failed to live up to their expectations recently, especially in the longest format of the game.

As a result, Pakistan lost four matches in a calendar year for the first time in their history. Fans were not happy also with the captaincy of Babar Azam. They also slammed Mohammad Rizwan for his flop shows with the bat in recent Test matches. However, in the last few days, some drastic changes happened in the Pakistan Cricket Board.

Fans shared mixed reactions after seeing Sarfaraz Ahmed in the playing XI in place of Mohammad Rizwan

Speaking of changes, on 21 December 2022, the Pakistan Cricket Board sacked Ramiz Raja and Prime Minister Shehbaz Shariff approved Najam Sethi’s appointment as the new PCB Chairman. before this series, Najam Sethi announced, on 24 December 2022, that Shahid Afridi will be the interim chief selector of the men's team. 

On Twitter, the Pakistan Cricket Board shared a statement that read: “PCB Management Committee has appointed former Pakistan captain Shahid Afridi as the interim Chair of the Men’s National Selection Committee. Other members of the panel are Abdul Razzaq and Rao Iftikhar Anjum. Haroon Rashid will be the Convener.” Najam Sethi also shared a tweet that read: “I am pleased to announce, with immediate effect, an Interim Selection Committee for the New Zealand tour. It comprises Shahid Afridi (Chief Selector), Abdul Razzaq, and Rao Iftikhar, with Haroon Rashid as Convenor.”

However, fans became surprised when they saw Mohammad Rizwan out of the playing XI while Sarfaraz Ahmed made a comeback to the team after a gap of nearly four years. He last played a Test match for the Men in Green way back in January 2019. In the last series against England, Rizwan scored only 141 runs in six innings. 

Here is how fans have reacted to the decision of dropping Mohammad Rizwan over Sarfaraz Ahmed:

Exactly.. Uske ego pe tamacha hai ek bhut bada... I wish sarfaraz perform karde.. Way better batter than Rizwan.. And a very very good player of spin. https://t.co/St2OXayd5w

— Priyank Gaur (@PriyankGaur9) December 26, 2022

yaar matlab rizwan khele to adhay kehte sarfaraz ko kyun nahi khilaya sarfaraz khele to kehte hain rizwan ko kyun bithaya. matlab chahte kia hain ye log 🤦🏿‍♂️

— taha. (vamos albicelestes 🇦🇷) (@StanAbdurr) December 26, 2022

Lol lol, rizwan dropped for sarfaraz😭

— happy guy (@eatandshitt) December 26, 2022

Pakistan opt to bat, drop Rizwan for Sarfaraz and bring Hamza in pic.twitter.com/076pE0JZsL

— ZO25 (@zo25_me) December 26, 2022

Drooping Rizwan and playing Sarfaraz , Super ra luccha @TheRealPCB

— Towing Baba Prince (@dum_biryanii) December 26, 2022

Logo ko Masla Sarfaraz ka team May anay say Rizwan ka dropped Honay say nai hai…

— Fahim Farooq (@fahim_parekh) December 26, 2022

Rizwan has been given enough chances in the longer. I can understand why going back to Sarfaraz can be seen as a short sighted decsion. But we really need to start grooming Haseebullah to eventually fill up that gap.

— Maaz Bilal (@MaazBilalK) December 26, 2022

Ok Sarfaraz Ahmed is a good option but for Rizwan it is not a good one#PAKvNZ #TayyariKiwiHai

— munib_ul_haq (@Munibulhaq10) December 26, 2022