SPORTS
Afghanistan's captain suddenly changed; the star player relinquished the captaincy. Find out who is now in command.
A major and surprising news has emerged from Afghanistan cricket. The star player who led the team to the pinnacle of success has suddenly announced his resignation from captaincy. The board has subsequently handed over the reins of the team to this player.
Afghanistan's captain suddenly changed; star player left the captaincy
The captain of the Afghanistan cricket team has changed. Veteran batsman Hashmatullah Shahidi has suddenly stepped down as Afghanistan's captain. He led Afghanistan to several historic victories under his captaincy, but on Wednesday, he abruptly resigned from the captaincy. Following this, the Afghanistan Cricket Board appointed Rahmat Shah as the new captain of the ODI and Test teams. Wicketkeeper-batsman Rahmanullah Gurbaz has been appointed vice-captain of the ODI and Test teams.
31-year-old Hashmatullah Shahidi became the ODI captain in early 2022 and captained the team in the 2023 ODI World Cup and the 2025 ICC Champions Trophy. He also captained Afghanistan's Test team. Under Shahidi's captaincy, Afghanistan defeated England, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, and the Netherlands in the 2023 World Cup.
Shahidi wrote on social media, "Today, with full respect and consent, I am resigning from the captaincy of my team due to personal reasons. It was an honour for me to fulfill the responsibility of a captain. I am proud that I was able to fulfill it with complete honesty, unity and commitment."
He further said, "With the grace of Allah and the efforts of the officials, coaches and players, we have achieved so many victories, won important matches, defeated big teams and raised the name of the team. This is not just my achievement, it is the result of teamwork."
Who is Rahmat Shah, who was given the command of the Afghanistan team?
33-year-old Rahmat Shah is an experienced batsman who has been playing international cricket for 15 years. He is considered the backbone of Afghanistan's batting in both Test and ODI cricket. Rahmat Shah has played 128 ODIs and 12 Test matches for Afghanistan so far. He has 4122 runs in ODIs.
