The Afghanistan Cricket Board (ACB) officially named Rahmat Shah as the new ODI and Test captain on July 22.
The announcement follows after Hashmatullah Shahidi stepped down as ODI captain. Shah has been the vice-captain of the side since 2021, when Shahidi was announced as captain.
Under the captaincy of Shahidi, Afghanistan played one Asia Cup and ODI World Cup each, both in 2023, and the Champions Trophy in 2025.
Hashmatullah Shahidi’s batting numbers as captain weren’t too different to what they were when he wasn’t leading Afghanistan. When not playing as captain, he averaged 32.97 and had a strike rate of 64.39 and improved to 33.79 and a strike rate of 70.77 after being named as captain.
Shah has captained the side in 55 ODIs where they won 27 games, including the win against England, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and the Netherlands at the 2023 ODI World Cup.
They finished in sixth place and secured a place in the 2025 Champions Trophy. They defeated England but failed to qualify for the semi-finals after their games against Australia washed out.
They have also beaten Bangladesh thrice, Zimbabwe twice and South Africa and Ireland once in bilateral series.
Rahmat Shah is Afghanistan’s leading run-getter in Tests and ODIs. Meanwhile, Wk-batter Rahmanullah Gurbaz was named as the vice-captain.
Afghanistan’s first assignment under their new skipper will be the five-match ODI series in Ireland.
Rahmat Shah has played in 12 tests, 128 ODIs since his debut in 2018. He is Afghanistan’s leading run scorer in ODIs with 4121 at an average of 35.22.
The change in captaincy completes Afghanistan’s leadership transition across formats since the new head coach Richard Pybus, who came into the leadership role after the T20 World Cup earlier this year.
Similarly, Ibrahim Zadran had replaced Rashid Khan as T20I captain in March 2026.
The five-match ODI series against Ireland begins on August 05 at Bready Cricket Ground, Magheramason.
Comments are closed.