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'Fast bowler' Shaheen Afridi has big shoes to fill as Pakistan captain and data does not lie

Abhinav Tyagi

Shaheen Shah Afridi playing for Pakistan - (Source: AFP)Shaheen Shah Afridi playing for Pakistan - (Source: AFP)

On Monday, October 20, the PCB made a massive decision as the apex cricket board of Pakistan sacked Mohammad Rizwan as the ODI captain, only to replace him with Shaheen Afridi. It is a big change considering Rizwan won a series in South Africa and Australia.

Nonetheless, Afridi has become the seventh seam bowling/ seam bowling all-round star to lead Pakistan in ODIs. Notably, 31 players have captained Pakistan in the fifty-over format, but only six seamers have had the opportunity to lead the Men in Green.

Shaheen will kickstart his captaincy campaign in the upcoming series against South Africa, and this article will shed light on the captaincy record of all six captains and what the benchmark is for Shaheen, which he has to replicate if he has to lead Pakistan in the 2027 ODI World Cup.

List of Pakistan's fast-bowling captains and their performance

Before, Shaheen, the likes of Asif Iqbal, Imran Khan, Sarfraz Nawaz, Wasim Akram, Waqar Younis, and Abdul Razzaq have led the side in ODIs. let's look at their performance.

Captains
Matches captained
Wins
Loss
No result
Win%
Asif Iqbal624033.3%
Imran Khan1397559553.96%
Sarfaraz Nawaz101
00
Wasim Akram1096641260.55
Waqar Younis623723259.68
Abdul Razzaq10
10
0

A huge legacy to match for Shaheen Afridi

If we look at the stats, then not all of the seam-bowling options were given a longer rope by the PCB to function, but the ones who got it made full use of it. Shaheen has got a big legacy to match as the iconic trio of Imran Khan, Wasim Akram, and Waqar younis boasts impressive records as captain.

Shedding light on the legendary Imran Khan, the former right-arm seamer captained Pakistan the most and has a win% of 53.96%. Further, he also led the Men in Green to their only ODI World Cup in 1992. 

Coming to Wasim Akram, then has the highest win% by a seam-bowling captain with 60.55%. Also, Waqar Younis boasts a 59.68 win percentage. Thus, Shaheen has huge boots to step in. 

What do Shaheen needs to do to match Imran Khan, Wasim Akram's legacy ahead of 2027 ODI World Cup?

Ahead of 2027 World Cup, Pakistan have 15 ODIs to play and for Shaheen to head to the prestigious fifty-over event as the captain, then he needs to match the legends' legacy, which means that he should have around 55-60 win percentage.

Now, for Shaheen to match that, the left-arm seamer needs to lead Pakistan to at least 9 wins of the 15 ODIs to have a 60% win percentage right before the ODI World Cup, which seems to be a tough task as the Men in Green will play South Africa and Australia as well.