Musical chair continues in Pakistan cricket; Shaheen Shah Afridi replaces Rizwan as ODI captain

Lahore: The Pakistan Cricket Board has appointed left arm pacer Shaheen Shah Afridi as their ODI captain, replacing Muhammad Rizwan ahead of the next month's ODI series against South Africa.

The PCB on Monday said Shaheen will lead the Pakistan side in the upcoming three-match ODI series against South Africa in Faisalabad from November 4-8.

The PCB said the decision was taken in a meeting in Islamabad which was attended by the national selectors, advisory board members and the national team’s white ball head coach, Mike Hesson.

Shaheen was also named the national T20 captain back in late 2023 but was sacked after just one series in New Zealand with Babar Azam returning to lead in the last World T20 Cup.

A reliable source said it was Hesson who had insisted on working with Salman Ali Agha and Shaheen as the white ball captains as he felt they had the potential to be successful long term captains and build their teams.

Shaheen has played 66 ODIs and 92 T20s for Pakistan besides also featuring in 32 Tests.

In the last two years the PCB has kept on changing the coaches and captains and no real reason was given for Rizwan's removal atthough he led Pakistan to ODI series wins in Australia, Zimbabwe and South Africa before facing a string of poor results including in the ICC Champions Trophy.