A big stir has been seen in Pakistani cricket. The captaincy of the ODI team has been taken away from wicketkeeper batsman Mohammad Rizwan. Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) took the decision to remove Mohammad Rizwan from the captaincy in an important meeting held in Islamabad on October 20 (Monday). Pakistan’s white-ball head coach Mike Hesson, high-performance director Aaqib Javed and members of the national selection committee were present in this meeting.
PCB has Mohammad Rizwan In place of left arm fast bowler Shaheen Shah Afridi has been made the new captain of Pakistan’s ODI team. Shaheen’s first assignment will be a three-match ODI series against South Africa, which is scheduled to begin on November 4. Shaheen captained the Pakistani team in the five-match T20 series played against New Zealand on its soil in January 2024. That series was won by host New Zealand 4-1.
25-year-old Shaheen Shah Afridi made his ODI International debut against Afghanistan in Abu Dhabi in September 2018. Since then, he has represented Pakistan in 66 ODI matches and has taken 131 wickets at an average of 24.28. On the basis of his sharp bowling, he has established himself as the main bowler of the Pakistani team.
Australia-South Africa series won under Rizwan
Mohammad Rizwan took over the captaincy of Pakistan’s ODI team in October 2024. Under his leadership, the Pakistani team performed brilliantly and won the ODI series in Australia after 22 years. After this, South Africa was defeated 3-0 at home and then Zimbabwe was defeated 2-1. These victories established Rizwan as a successful captain. But after this there was a sudden decline in the ODI form of the Pakistani team. The Pakistani team lost the title match of the triangular series played with New Zealand and South Africa.
After this, Pakistan was out of the group stage in ICC Champions Trophy 2025. At that time he was at the bottom of his group. After this, on the New Zealand tour, it had to face a crushing defeat of 3-0. Then in August, a 1-2 defeat at the hands of West Indies worsened the team’s situation. In the last match against West Indies, Pakistan team got bundled out for just 92 runs and lost the match by 202 runs.
Mohammad Rizwan captained Pakistan in 20 ODI matches. During this period the Pakistani team won 9 matches. The Pakistani team had to face defeat in 11 matches. Under the captaincy of Rizwan, the winning percentage of Pakistani team was 45.00.
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