Pakistan ODI captain and wicket-keeper batsman Mohammad Rizwan countered incessant social media trolling over his English-speaking abilities prior to Multan Sultans’ opening game of the PSL 2025 season.
At the toss presentation ceremony of Multan’s opening match against Karachi Kings, Muhammad Rizwan made an express request: “I want to speak in Urdu, please.” This is in response to constant criticism over his English speech during media interactions and post-match pressers as a player and captain.
Rizwan has faced incessant criticism on social media, particularly when he was the captain of Pakistan. While discussing the topic before his debut in PSL, he remarked that even though he wishes he were formally educated, he has no shame regarding his communication skills.
“I don’t bother about social media trolling. I am content with one thing: whatever comes out of my mouth comes straight from the heart. I don’t know English. I just have one regret, and that is I wasn’t provided with a good enough education, but I am not ashamed of not knowing how to speak English even being captain of Pakistan’s cricket team,” Rizwan declared.
He emphasized that the requirements of him are regarding cricket, not language proficiency. “Pakistan is not requiring me to learn English. If that were the case, I would quit cricket to become a professor, but I do not have that much time,” he declared.
Rizwan was also recently asked a pointed question during the PSL 2025 captains’ media conference. One reporter playfully inquired if the Multan Sultans would finally start winning under his captaincy after all these years of “learning,” a teasing jab at his popular “win or learn” catchphrase.
In response, Rizwan replied, “I am not concerned about the result. The result is in the hands of Allah. We will do our best with whatever we have been blessed with, be it hard work or awareness. We will do our best to their best capabilities. Allah provides us with victories and lessons, and we have to learn from them.”
