ISLAMABAD: The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) announced on Monday it has appointed left-arm pacer Shaheen Shah Afridi as the new skipper of the national men’s squad for the One Day International (ODI) format, weeks before the upcoming South Africa series. 

Rizwan’s status as ODI captain was thrown into doubt by the PCB after it released a statement last week that it was “yet to finalize a captain” for the South Africa ODI series, scheduled to take place from Nov. 4-8. The PCB said white-ball head coach Mike Hesson had called for a meeting of the selection committee to make a final decision on the ODI captaincy.

Rizwan was appointed by the PCB as ODI skipper last year and led the side to ODI series victories in Australia, Zimbabwe and South Africa. However, this year he was unable to impress the selectors. Pakistan under Rizwan’s captaincy lost a home tri-series final to New Zealand and suffered an early exit from the Champions Trophy tournament before suffering an away series defeat against the West Indies.

“Shaheen Shah Afridi has been named captain of the Pakistan men’s ODI team,” the board said in a statement. “The left-arm fast bowler will lead Pakistan in the three-match ODI series against South Africa, scheduled to take place at the Iqbal Stadium in Faisalabad from 4 to 8 November.”

The PCB said that the decision was made following a meeting held in Islamabad, which was attended by white-ball head coach Mike Hesson, Director High Performance Aqib Javed and members of the national selection committee.

Afridi has played 66 ODIs and 92 T20Is for Pakistan, taking a combined 249 wickets in both formats. In 32 Tests, excluding the ongoing second Test against South Africa at the Rawalpindi Cricket Stadium, the lanky pacer has claimed 120 wickets.

Afridi was previously appointed captain of Pakistan’s T20 squad in an away series against New Zealand in 2024. However, the pacer was sacked from the role and replaced with former captain Babar Azam after only one series.