The Pakistan Cricket Board has taken a major decision, removing Mohammad Rizwan as ODI captain. Shaheen Shah Afridi has been appointed the new captain.
This change was confirmed on Monday, and Afridi will lead the team starting with the upcoming three-match ODI series against South Africa.
Poor performance of the team during Rizwan’s tenure
Under Rizwan’s captaincy, Pakistan failed to reach the semi-finals of the Champions Trophy 2025. The team also lost the three-match series against the West Indies. Rizwan himself was out for a golden duck in the third ODI.
The only bright spot in his captaincy was winning the ODI series against Australia last year. However, his overall performance was poor, leading selector Aaqib Javed and head coach Mike Hesson to decide to remove him.
The PCB did not even mention Rizwan in its official statement. The statement only mentioned Afridi and stated that the decision was made after a meeting between the selection committee and Hesson in Islamabad.
Afridi’s Return and the Team’s New Setup
Shaheen Afridi has previously served as white-ball captain, but was removed after the 1-4 T20 series loss against New Zealand.
He will now reassign the ODI team. With this decision, Pakistan now has separate captains for all three formats: Shan Masood in Tests, Salman Ali Agha in T20s, and Afridi in ODIs.
The announcement came on the first day of the second Test between Pakistan and South Africa in Rawalpindi. Last week, the PCB had refused to confirm Rizwan as captain.
The board stated that head coach Hesson had asked chairman Mohsin Naqvi to convene a meeting to select a new captain.
A report also states that “Babar Azam storms back into ODI captaincy race as Mike Hesson triggers Rizwan removal talks with letter to PCB.”
It remains to be seen how the Pakistan team performs under Afridi’s captaincy, especially in the South Africa series. The team has suffered several defeats recently, so this change is expected to improve things.
