Hashmatullah Shahidi left the captaincy of Afghanistan ODI team, took a big decision after 4 years

Kabul: Afghanistan cricket team’s experienced batsman Hashmatullah Shahidi has decided to step down from the captaincy of the ODI team. Shahidi said in a statement released on social media that resigning from the captaincy is his personal decision.

31-year-old Shahidi took charge of Afghanistan’s ODI team in January 2022 and captained the team in a total of 55 matches till the last ODI series played against India in June 2026.

‘It has been an honor for me to captain’

In his message shared on social media, Shahidi said that it was a matter of pride and honor for him to lead the team. He said that he performed his responsibility with complete honesty, solidarity and dedication.

He said in his message that by the grace of Allah, the support of cricket officials, coaching staff and players, the team registered many important victories, defeated big teams and made Afghanistan proud in international cricket.

Many important successes achieved under captaincy

Under Shahidi’s captaincy, Afghanistan defeated Bangladesh thrice, Zimbabwe twice and South Africa and Ireland once each in the bilateral ODI series.

Batting performance also remained stable

Before captaincy, Shahidi’s batting average in ODI cricket was 32.97 and strike rate was 64.39. After assuming the captaincy, his average increased to 33.79 and strike rate to 70.77.

Shahidi’s only century in the 96 ODIs played so far came in Afghanistan’s last ODI against India in Chennai, where he scored a brilliant inning of 102 runs in 131 balls.

Also read: FIH Youth Hockey5 Asia Cup: Strong performance by Indian sub-junior teams, boys defeated Pakistan-Oman, girls defeated Uzbekistan 16-0