RAWALPINDI: After beating a depleted South African side 2-1 in the recently-concluded One-day Inter­nat­ional series, Pakistan will take on a stronger Sri Lankan outfit in another three-match rubber here at the Rawal­pindi Cricket Stadium from Tuesday.

The series win against South Africa marked a successful beginning to Shaheen Shah Afridi’s fresh stint as the new Pakistan captain, having replaced Mohammad Rizwan last month in an abrupt manner.

The Sri Lanka challenge will be different for the pacer, given that he won his maiden ODI series as skipper with first-choice players at his disposal against a South African team missing the likes of senior pros Temba Bavuma, Aiden Markam, Kagiso Rabada and Keshav Maharaj.

The Islanders, led by Charith Asalanka, in contrast, arrive in Rawalpindi with a full-strength team and a top form in the format — having won the last six of their seven ODI series, including those against the strong India and Australia to rise to fourth in the International Cricket Council ODI rankings.

Shaheen, however, did not touch upon his views on the upcoming contests, which would see the sides come against each other for the second and third games on Thursday and Saturday, respectively.

But he did reveal what went on in the background before he was handed the ODI captaincy at the expense of Rizwan — who was ripped off the position despite winning series in Australia and South Africa last year before a disastrous campaign in the ICC Champions Trophy earlier this year had raised questions over his performance.

“Rizwan was the only person [from the team] I had a discussion with when I was about to be appointed as captain,” said the Pakistan pace spearhead in the pre-series press conference here on Monday. “I asked him how he felt and what he wanted.

“Rizwan is a good human and he decided himself to stake a step back and let me replace him, and that was how the decision was taken.”

Shaheen had been in Rizwan’s position himself when he had replaced Babar Azam as Pakistan’s T20I skipper back in 2024 before being placed by the latter after just one series in charge.

The pacer, who lead Pakistan to the national side’s first-ever ODI series victory over South Africa at home last week, said the past did not spill into his decisions in the present and that he took advice from all his team-mates as captain.

“I talk to everyone for advice and I am not too egoistic to not talk to the ex captains because of things that happened in the past,” he said.

Moreover, Shaheen was not reluctant to back both Babar and Rizwan amid their recent struggles in white-ball cricket, observing that responsibility was for every player to take and not only for the established pros.

“Everyone has to take responsibility if you want to improve as a team,” the 25-year-old, who managed three wickets at an average of 38 in his first series as captain. “It’s not just for Rizwan, Babar, Fakhar [Zaman], Shaheen, Saim [Ayub] to ensure this. The first and the last, all players should take responsibility.

“As far as Rizwan is concerned, he is Pakistan’s top-scorer in one-dayers since 2023. We are trying to back players who are not in form so that they can do well in future matches. If you get hopeless about such players it will bring in worse results. We have to go into matches as a unit and win them as a unit.”

Babar, too, despite getting starts, failed to come up to the fans’ expectations, scoring only 45 runs across the three matches against the Proteas. Shaheen believed the right-hander would bounce back with a big performance in the near future.

“Babar can falter in one or two matches but he is in good touch and I hope he will score a hundred soon,” he said.

While no guarantees have been assured to Shaheen at least publicly by the PCB about the longevity of his stint as the skipper, the left-armer is looking forward to the 2027 ODI World Cup — which will be played in South Africa, Zimbabwe and Namibia.

“My job as captain is to ensure how to improve our one-day cricket and how to take my fellow players forward,” he said.

For Sri Lanka, the Pakistan series would be about sticking to the basics if they are to carry their decent form into the contests.

“I think it’s always competitive cricket when Sri Lanka and Pakistan face each other, and I expect some exciting cricket from tomorrow,” Asalanka told reporters. “We just want to focus on our basics and see what happens.

“Pakistan played good cricket in their last series. We played about 30–45 days ago, in Zimbabwe, and especially our ODI side has been doing really well. For us, it’s about sticking to the basics, keeping things simple, and backing our strengths.”

Published in Dawn, November 11th, 2025