The Pakistan Cricket Board yesterday announced Shaheen Shah Afridi as the ODI captain, replacing Mohammad Rizwan, who was named white-ball captain in 2024.
However, Rizwan was later removed from T20I captaincy after losing series against Australia and South Africa and was eventually not included in the shorter format.
Under Mohammad Rizwan’s leadership, Pakistan played 20 ODIs and won 9 of them.
Rizwan’s first assignment was a huge challenge, as Pakistan toured Australia, a country where they had last won an ODI series in 2002 under Waqar Younis.
Although Australia won the first ODI by just two wickets, Pakistan made a remarkable comeback to clinch the series 2-1. With that victory, Pakistan became the first Asian team to win two ODI series in Australia, ending a 22-year drought.
His second assignment was against Zimbabwe, who won the first ODI via the DLS method, but Pakistan bounced back to take the series 2-1 with a new-look side.
Pakistan later whitewashed South Africa 3-0 in an ODI series under Mohammad Rizwan in their own backyard, becoming the first team ever to whitewash them at home and the first to beat them twice in Pink Day ODIs.
Rizwan also became the first Pakistani captain to defeat both Australia and South Africa in their home conditions.
What went wrong?
Everything seemed on track, and Pakistan were considered the favorites for the Champions Trophy 2025 at home. But things changed dramatically at the last moment.
READ: Shaheen Shah Afridi named Pakistan’s new ODI team captain
Pakistan made three to four major changes to their squad for the Tri-Series and the Champions Trophy 2025.
From that point on, according to local media reports, the selection committee – including Asad Shafiq – played a major role in selecting the playing XI, even over the captain and the group of players who had just whitewashed South Africa.
Pakistan lost the Tri-Series final to New Zealand and were later beaten by both New Zealand and arch-rivals India in the ICC Champions Trophy 2025.
This was followed by a 3-0 whitewash against New Zealand, and then a 2-1 defeat to West Indies — marking the Caribbean side’s first ODI series win over Pakistan in 34 years.
Despite that, he remained Pakistan’s one of the most profolic batters in the last three year. Therefore, placing the entire blame on him and changing the captain after just one year and one ICC event reflects poorly on Pakistan cricket.
Why Shaheen Shah Afridi?
Shaheen Afridi’s performances have been outstanding since his return in the West Indies series, and he has remained Pakistan’s premier fast bowler for the last four to five years.
However, he was not even a permanent part of the ODI squad recently.
Following Pakistan’s Champions Trophy exit, Shaheen Afridi was dropped from the ODI squad for the New Zealand series, during which Akif Javed made his debut.
Shaheen was later recalled for the West Indies ODIs, but was benched for the series decider after the first two matches.
Making a captain who is currently in and out of the playing XI raises serious questions — especially when the entire team is struggling.
The PCB should have trusted Rizwan, just like Shan Masood has been backed. Rizwan had already shown glimpses of strong leadership in series wins against South Africa and Australia, as well as in domestic cricket and the PSL.
Since the ICC ODI World Cup 2023, Pakistan have shuffled through six captains. Apart from Shan Masood, who has finally been given time and is producing results, others — including Shaheen Afridi, Mohammad Rizwan, and even Babar Azam — were restricted to short, unstable stints.
