India, Nov. 4 -- On paper, this should have been Shaheen Afridi's night. New role, home crowd, first men's international in Faisalabad in 17 years, and South Africa turning up severely under strength. Instead, his first outing as Pakistan's ODI captain began with a strangely muted performance with the new ball and a supporting role in a bowling effort driven by others.

South Africa were bowled out for 263 in 49.1 overs, setting Pakistan a target of 264 to win. It is a perfectly manageable target on a batting-friendly surface, but it owed relatively little to the impact of the man in charge.

Afridi came into this game carrying the baggage of a captaincy story that never really got going the first time. After Babar Azam stepped down from ...