Pakistan pacer Shaheen Shah Afridi has shared his thoughts on his new role as ODI captain after taking over the mantle from Mohammad Rizwan. The Pakistan Cricket Board’s selection committee, along with white-ball coach Mike Hesson, recently made the leadership change, aiming to strengthen the team’s performance in the 50-over format.
Pride and Responsibility in Leadership
Shaheen expressed that leading Pakistan in ODIs is a matter of immense pride. He highlighted that, while wearing the national jersey is always an honor, captaining the side brings added responsibility. He also addressed his removal as T20I captain, emphasizing that leadership appointments are management decisions.
“𝑰𝒕 𝒊𝒔 𝒂𝒏 𝒉𝒐𝒏𝒐𝒖𝒓 𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝒎𝒆 𝒕𝒐 𝒍𝒆𝒂𝒅 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒄𝒐𝒖𝒏𝒕𝒓𝒚. 𝑬𝒗𝒆𝒏 𝒂𝒔 𝒂 𝒑𝒍𝒂𝒚𝒆𝒓, 𝒘𝒆𝒂𝒓𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒏𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏𝒂𝒍 𝒄𝒐𝒍𝒐𝒖𝒓𝒔 𝒊𝒔 𝒂𝒍𝒘𝒂𝒚𝒔 𝒂 𝒎𝒂𝒕𝒕𝒆𝒓 𝒐𝒇 𝒑𝒓𝒊𝒅𝒆 — 𝒃𝒖𝒕 𝒏𝒐𝒘, 𝒂𝒔 𝒄𝒂𝒑𝒕𝒂𝒊𝒏, 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒓𝒆 𝒊𝒔 𝒂𝒏 𝒂𝒅𝒅𝒆𝒅 𝒔𝒆𝒏𝒔𝒆 𝒐𝒇 𝒓𝒆𝒔𝒑𝒐𝒏𝒔𝒊𝒃𝒊𝒍𝒊𝒕𝒚. 𝑳𝒆𝒂𝒅𝒆𝒓𝒔𝒉𝒊𝒑 𝒂𝒑𝒑𝒐𝒊𝒏𝒕𝒎𝒆𝒏𝒕𝒔 𝒂𝒓𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒎𝒂𝒏𝒂𝒈𝒆𝒎𝒆𝒏𝒕’𝒔 𝒅𝒆𝒄𝒊𝒔𝒊𝒐𝒏𝒔, 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒘𝒆 𝒓𝒆𝒔𝒑𝒆𝒄𝒕 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕. 𝑴𝒚 𝒇𝒐𝒄𝒖𝒔 𝒓𝒊𝒈𝒉𝒕 𝒏𝒐𝒘 𝒊𝒔 𝒐𝒏 𝒊𝒎𝒑𝒓𝒐𝒗𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒐𝒖𝒓 𝑶𝒏𝒆-𝑫𝒂𝒚 𝒄𝒓𝒊𝒄𝒌𝒆𝒕 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒍𝒆𝒂𝒅𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒕𝒆𝒂𝒎 𝒇𝒓𝒐𝒎 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒇𝒓𝒐𝒏𝒕,” 𝑺𝒉𝒂𝒉𝒆𝒆𝒏 𝒔𝒂𝒊𝒅, 𝒒𝒖𝒐𝒕𝒆𝒅 𝒃𝒚 𝑮𝒆𝒐 𝑵𝒆𝒘𝒔.
Focus on Improving Pakistan’s ODI Game
Shaheen aims to uplift Pakistan’s ODI performance and set examples for his teammates through his own play. Coming into the series, Pakistan are buoyed by a drawn two-match Test series against South Africa and a 2-1 T20I series win.
The three-match ODI series will take place at Iqbal Stadium in Faisalabad on November 4, 6, and 8, allowing Shaheen to showcase his leadership skills in the longer white-ball format.
Recent Performances and Experience
Afridi played both Tests against South Africa, finishing with figures of 4/48 and 1/95. He missed the second T20I but bounced back in the third game, claiming 3/26 in four overs. This ODI series marks his second tenure as Pakistan captain, following a brief stint as T20I skipper, where he was relieved of duties after five matches.
“𝑶𝒖𝒓 𝒋𝒐𝒃 𝒊𝒔 𝒕𝒐 𝒔𝒆𝒓𝒗𝒆 𝑷𝒂𝒌𝒊𝒔𝒕𝒂𝒏 𝒄𝒓𝒊𝒄𝒌𝒆𝒕 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒇𝒖𝒍𝒇𝒊𝒍 𝒘𝒉𝒂𝒕𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒓 𝒓𝒐𝒍𝒆 𝒘𝒆’𝒓𝒆 𝒈𝒊𝒗𝒆𝒏. 𝑴𝒚 𝒑𝒓𝒊𝒐𝒓𝒊𝒕𝒚 𝒊𝒔 𝒕𝒐 𝒍𝒆𝒂𝒅 𝒃𝒚 𝒆𝒙𝒂𝒎𝒑𝒍𝒆 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒆𝒏𝒔𝒖𝒓𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒕𝒆𝒂𝒎 𝒑𝒆𝒓𝒇𝒐𝒓𝒎𝒔 𝒄𝒐𝒏𝒔𝒊𝒔𝒕𝒆𝒏𝒕𝒍𝒚 𝒊𝒏 𝑶𝑫𝑰𝒔,” 𝑨𝒇𝒓𝒊𝒅𝒊 𝒂𝒅𝒅𝒆𝒅.
At 25 years old, Shaheen has already experienced both highs and lows in leadership roles. Having replaced Babar Azam in 2023, he now has the chance to cement his influence as a captain in Pakistan’s ODI setup.
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