In frame: Shai Hope and Shaheen Shah Afridi (Source: AFP)A total of 14 teams, instead of 10 in the last two editions of the World Cup, will participate in the 2027 World Cup. South Africa and Zimbabwe have automatically qualified for the 2027 ODI World Cup as co-hosts. Moreover, other teams are sweating hard trying to secure direct qualification through the ICC ODI rankings, refining core player squads, and scheduling domestic 50-over pathways. The top 8 teams in the ICC Men's ODI Team Rankings as of September 30, 2026 will secure direct entry.Struggling teams can change leaders before 2027 World CupThus, some of the teams that are struggling or transitioning their core, looking toward the 2027 World Cup, face major leadership evaluations and re-evaluating their white-ball captaincy structures.For instance, very recently, Afghanistan witnessed a crucial shift in captaincy ahead of the coveted trophy. Hashmatullah Shahidi stepped down as Afghanistan's ODI captain due to personal reasons following careful consideration, shortly after the team's 3-0 series defeat against India.Hence, the Afghanistan Cricket Board (ACB) appointed Rahmat Shah as the new Afghanistan ODI and Test captain.On the same lines, in this article, let’s take a look at teams that could be looking to change their captains before the coveted tournament.1) Pakistan - Shaheen Shah AfridiShaheen Shah Afridi was appointed Pakistan's ODI captain on October 20, 2025, replacing Mohammad Rizwan, who failed miserably during his tenure. In his 20 ODIs as captain, Rizwan led Pakistan to nine wins and 11 defeats, maintaining a 45% winning percentage.As the leader, Shaheen holds a decent record, leading the Men in Green to 7 wins in 11 games. However, as a pacer, Shaheen has experienced a notable dip. He has struggled since his return to cricket from a knee injury in 2022, which has notably dropped his pace.He has struggled to bowl at 140kph consistently since his comeback from a knee injury in 2022, which has impacted his effectiveness.Moreover, he has been left out of Pakistan’s Test squad for upcoming tours as part of a red-ball workload and selection shift, amid debates over form and pace recovery.On top of that, Babar Azam has reportedly set a condition before agreeing to take over as the team’s Test captain, insisting that he should eventually be given leadership responsibilities across all three formats.According to reports, Babar accepted Test captaincy only after being assured that he could become Pakistan’s all-format captain if the team produced strong results in the upcoming five-Test assignments against the West Indies and England.2) Sri Lanka - Kusal MendisKusal Mendis was re-appointed as Sri Lanka's ODI captain in May 2026, taking over the role from Charith Asalanka with a view toward leading the team into the 2027 ICC Men's Cricket World Cup.Since his appointment, the Lankan team has endured an even record of eight wins and eight losses in ODI matches.Also read: Sri Lanka Player Suffers Brutal Injury Before India Series, Ruled Out Of Major TournamentHowever, in their latest three ODI series, Sri Lanka has only fared in one - against the West Indies, winning the solitary game contest in the series.Apart from that, they lost the home series against Pakistan (November 2025) and England (January 2026).Thus, the Sri Lankan board might want to examine Kusal’s credentials as captain before the 2027 ODI World Cup. 3) Bangladesh - Mehidy Hasan MirazAs per recent reports, the Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) is set to remove Mehidy Hasan Miraz as the One Day International captain, with Litton Das the frontrunner to take charge of the 50-over side.Miraz was appointed Bangladesh's ODI captain on 12 June, 2025, replacing Najmul Hossain Shanto, and his tenure was extended by the BCB in April this year through to the 2027 Cricket World Cup.However, Bangladesh's results under his leadership have failed to meet expectations, particularly away from home.Of the 13 ODIs Bangladesh played overseas under Miraz's tutelage, the Tigers won only two.His appointment resulted in Bangladesh having three different captains across formats., with Shanto leading in Tests, Miraz in ODIs and Litton in T20Is. That experiment now appears set to end after little more than a year.4) West Indies - Shai HopeProlific batter Shai Hope succeeded Nicholas Pooran as the West Indies ODI captain on February 15, 2023. Under Hope, the West Indies ODI team has experienced mixed overall results as a collective unit, though Hope himself has maintained elite individual batting form and historic personal milestones.Notably, in the recent period, Shai maintained an exceptional personal batting average, passing 6,000 ODI runs as the second-fastest West Indian in history (behind only Sir Viv Richards). He also became the first player in cricket history to score ODI centuries against all 11 other Full Member nations.Since taking the captaincy, Shai Hope has elevated his aggressive output, boasting a strong strike rate above 90 that outpaces historic West Indies greats.In contrast, the West Indies team has struggled with overall consistency, famously missing qualification for the 2023 ICC Men's Cricket World Cup prior to his full captaincy tenure.On top of that, the Men in Maroon have experienced a twin-series loss under Hope.They lost the opening ODI against Sri Lanka in June 2026, with the second ODI and the third ODI being abandoned. Moreover, West Indies won two games against New Zealand in July 2026 during the five-match ODI series. Thus, the board might want to consider relieving Shai of the extreme responsibilities of captaincy and extending Roston Chase’s duties, further adding ODI captaincy to his designation. Also read: Jasprit Bumrah’s Injury Timeline Since 2023 World Cup- How Many Matches Indian Pacer Missed?
