Pakistan names new CAPTAIN ahead of South Africa ODIs; Mohammad Rizwan snubbed

Following Mike Hesson's meeting with the Selection committee of the PCB, 25-year-old fast bowler Shaheen Afridi has replaced Mohammad Rizwan as Pakistan ODI skipper. Pakistan will now have three different captains across the three formats of the game. 

The currently held Test tour extends further to a 6-match white-ball tour between Pakistan and South Africa.  Ahead of the ODI series, which is scheduled to start on the 4th of November, the Pakistan team took this massive measure to swap their captaincy in the longer white-ball format. 

Shaheen Afridi takes charge as New Pakistan ODI Captain 

The South Africa series advances towards the white-ball matches; these games would be followed by a T20 tri-series in Pakistan and then they will host Australia for a white-ball tour as well. As of now this marks the preparations for the upcoming World Cup in 2027. 

The Pakistan white-ball coach Mike Hesson did not look convinced by the ODI Captaincy with Rizwan and hence had formally written to Mohsin Naqvi urging him to call for a meeting of the selection and advisory committee alongside the coach.  

The decision to replace the 33-year-old Pakistani wicket-keeper batter with the 25-year-old speedster Shaheen Afridi was a decision taken jointly by committees and was announced after the conclusion of play on Day 1 at Rawalpindi. 

Why was Mohammad Rizwan removed from ODI Captaincy? 

Ever since Mohammad Rizwan took over as the captain of the Pakistan side, he has done everything he could to lift his team's performance. He himself is just 4 runs short of the highest scorer in ODIs for Pakistan and averaged nearly 42. 

Despite his batting prowess, Pakistan was humiliatingly thrown out of the group stages in the ICC Champions Trophy 2025, having lost all the games. The PCB had earlier hinted towards the removal after having denied Rizwan's confirmation as the ODI Captain. The talks initially brought up by the head coach received wider backing from higher levels. 

The PCB statement, however, had no mention of the former skipper. Shaheen Afridi took over the Pakistan captaincy in the format he is best at, having picked 45 wickets, the highest by any bowler in the world in ODIs since the World Cup of 2023. 

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