THE rumour mill had begun to churn last week; eventually matters became clear as the Pakistan Cricket Board announced it would hold discussions on the captaincy of the One-day International team. On Monday night, the trigger-happy PCB under Mohsin Naqvi finally made it official: Shaheen Shah Afridi was to replace Mohammad Rizwan as ODI captain.

The decision came on the heels of the first day of the second Test against South Africa, in which both players are taking part. Shaheen’s first assignment will be next month’s three-match ODI series against South Africa in Faisalabad; his ascension coming in as abrupt a manner as his sacking as T20 captain in the early days of Mr Naqvi’s chairmanship last year.

Shaheen had been named T20 captain by Mr Naqvi’s predecessor, but was removed after just one series to reinstate Babar Azam ahead of the 2024 T20 World Cup. It was the start of a game of musical chairs. Babar resigned after Pakistan’s dismal World Cup campaign, with Rizwan handed the reins of both the ODI and T20 teams. He led Pakistan to historic series wins in Australia and South Africa, but Pakistan had another dismal campaign at this year’s Champions Trophy and the T20 team had a new leader in Salman Ali Agha.

Shaheen will now lead the ODI side. But, in its announcement, the PCB did not mention for how long it desires to continue with Shaheen. There was also, surprisingly, no mention of Rizwan, who seems to be falling out of favour, and it is unclear if he will find a spot in the ODI squad.

Pace spearhead Shaheen, meanwhile, has rediscovered his old form, bowling with verve. Burdening him with the captaincy may not be the right move. The South Africa series will tell whether the PCB has made the right choice. One hopes that this time the PCB, having burned several bright talents by handing them the captaincy, has exercised caution.

Published in Dawn, October 22nd, 2025