Shaheen Shah Afridi replaces Rizwan as Pakistan ODI captain
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Lahore (PTI): The Pakistan Cricket Board has appointed left arm pacer Shaheen Shah Afridi as their ODI captain, replacing Muhammad Rizwan ahead of the next month's ODI series against South Africa.
The PCB on Monday said Shaheen will lead the Pakistan side in the upcoming three-match ODI series against South Africa in Faisalabad from November 4-8.
The PCB said the decision was taken in a meeting in Islamabad which was attended by the national selectors, advisory board members and the national team’s white ball head coach, Mike Hesson.
Shaheen was also named the national T20 captain back in late 2023 but was sacked after just one series in New Zealand with Babar Azam returning to lead in the last World T20 Cup.
A reliable source said it was Hesson who had insisted on working with Salman Ali Agha and Shaheen as the white ball captains as he felt they had the potential to be successful long term captains and build their teams.
Shaheen has played 66 ODIs and 92 T20s for Pakistan besides also featuring in 32 Tests.
In the last two years the PCB has kept on changing the coaches and captains and no real reason was given for Rizwan's removal atthough he led Pakistan to ODI series wins in Australia, Zimbabwe and South Africa before facing a string of poor results including in the ICC Champions Trophy.
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NEET student hangs self in Rajasthan's Sikar
Jaipur (PTI): A student preparing for the NEET examination allegedly committed suicide by hanging himself in a rented room in Rajasthan's Sikar on Friday, police said.
According to the police, the student allegedly hanged himself from a ceiling fan using his sister's scarf while one sister was attending coaching classes and the other was in the bathroom.
He had appeared in the NEET UG exam 2026, which was cancelled due to paper leak, they said.
Udyog Nagar SHO Rajesh Kumar said that the deceased, identified as Pradeep Meghwal, was a resident of Kanika ki Dhani village in Jhunjhunu's Gudha Gaudji area.
He had been living in a rented room in Sikar's Jaldhari Nagar area with his two sisters while preparing for NEET over the last three years.
His elder sister later found him hanging and informed the landlord and police after bringing him down, officials said.
The SHO said the body was kept at SK Hospital mortuary, and a postmortem had not been conducted.
The student's father, Rajesh Kumar Meghwal, told police that Pradeep's NEET examination had gone well and the family was expecting him to score around 650 marks.
Former Rajasthan deputy chief minister Sachin Pilot expressed grief over the incident and linked it to anxiety among students after reports of irregularities and paper leaks in NEET 2026.
Pilot said repeated paper leak incidents and cancellation of examinations were affecting students' mental health and demanded a time-bound investigation and strict action against those responsible.
