St Kitts and Nevis Patriots ropes in star Pakistan player for ongoing CPL 2025 season

After a snub from Pakistan’s Asia Cup 2025, Mohammad Rizwan confirmed a deal from the St. Kitts and Nevis Patriots for the remainder of the Caribbean Premier League 2025 (CPL). He will join the franchise for the first time in his career as the replacement of Afghanistan international Fazalhaq Farooqi. The first bowler will join the Afghanistan cricket team ahead of the tri-series in the UAE involving Pakistan and the UAE.

Rizwan, 33, who is neither a part of the Asia Cup squad nor Pakistan’s T20I team, has no issue joining the CPL setup. Though it is not yet clear when he will be going to join the Caribbean team. Patriots had a rocky start to this year’s CPL, as they lost in 3 back-to-back matches before getting their first victory of the ongoing campaign.

To join a franchise league, as per rules set by the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB), every player under the board’s central contract needs to take a No Objection Certificate (NoC) from the governing body. As per PCB’s rules, cricketers under central contract are allowed to take part in only 2 overseas franchise tournaments within a 12-month span. Before signing a contract for Patriots, Rizwan enabled a contract for Melbourne Renegades for the Big Bash League, which means the batter is fully utilizing PCB’s guidelines.

Rizwan and Patriots both wish to bounce back

There are multiple Pakistani cricketers involved in the ongoing CPL. Before confirming Rizwan’s service, Patriots already have two Pakistanis in their squad as the fast bowlers Naseem Shah and Abbas Afridi. The champions of CPL 2017 and CPL 2021 will try to bounce back after sustaining early setbacks.

In place of a fast bowler, signing Rizwan, who is a full-time batter, clearly showed the franchise's intention to bolster their batting strength. On August 8, 2025, the Peshawar-born scored 53 runs against the West Indies in an ODI match.