Karachi: Senior pacer Shaheen Shah Afridi will replace Muhammad Rizwan as the new ODI captain of Pakistan starting next month, the country’s cricket board has announced amid speculation that the sudden change of guard was pushed by white-ball head coach Mike Hesson.
The Pakistan Cricket Board announced that Shaheen will lead Pakistan in the three-match ODI series against South Africa in Faisalabad from November 4-8. The decision, the board said, was taken at a meeting in Islamabad attended by the national selectors, advisory board members, and Hesson.
While the PCB has not cited any official reason for the switch, insiders believe Hesson’s recommendation served as a ‘springboard’ to make the change.
The 25-year-old Shaheen has played 66 ODIs and 92 T20Is for Pakistan, besides also featuring in 32 Tests.
Apart from Hesson’s insistence, the move has sparked a fresh round of speculation within Pakistan cricket circles about what else could have been a contributing factor to the PCB’s decision.
Since taking charge as white-ball head coach in late May, immediately after the Pakistan Super League, Hesson has worked with Rizwan in only one ODI series — a three-match tour of the West Indies.
“It is strange that Hesson formed an opinion about Rizwan’s captaincy after just one series when the wicketkeeper-batsman’s success rate is 45 per cent, and don’t forget he won ODI series in Australia, Zimbabwe and South Africa,” cricket analyst, Omair Alavi said.
The wicketkeeper-batter captained Pakistan in 20 ODIs, winning nine and losing 11, a record that included a poor run in the ICC Champions Trophy and the subsequent series defeats in New Zealand and the West Indies.
There is also speculation that some officials in the cricket board were uneasy with Rizwan’s “growing tendency to involve religion in dressing room discussions”, something that also made some players uncomfortable.
Rizwan has had no qualms about expressing his faith, even during cricket matches or in media interactions. According to Pakistan batsman Imam ul Haq, he arranged special sermons in the team hotels and also urged players to pray five times a day.
The situation has drawn parallels with former skipper Inzamam-ul-Haq’s tenure between 2004 and 2007, when he upset the then chairman — the late Shaharyar Khan — with his focus on religion in the dressing room.
Reports also claim that the decision to replace Rizwan was influenced not just by Hesson but also by members of the selection committee, including Aaqib Javed who is the director of the high-performance centre, and two former captains, Sarfaraz Ahmed and Misbah-ul-Haq, who are on the advisory board to PCB Chairman, Mohsin Naqvi.
Earlier, discarded Pakistan batter Ahmed Shehzad had publicly criticised Rizwan for using religion to find excuses to cover the team’s poor performances and termed it as unfortunate.
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