The move comes after Afridi criticized team management on his return home from the 3-2 series win over the West Indies, but the Pakistan Cricket Board did not elaborate on the reason for his demotion.

PCB spokesman Nadeem Sarwar said on Thursday it is the “policy of the board to appoint a captain on a series to series basis.” Afridi led Pakistan to the semifinals of the World Cup but after returning from the West Indies, he told reporters he was unhappy with interference in team affairs by unnamed members of the management.

The PCB said Afridi had violated its code of conduct and appropriate action would be taken.

Afridi became Pakistan's fourth ODI captain in less than two years after Shoaib Malik, Younis Khan and Mohammad Yousuf when he led the team in the Asia Cup last year.

Afridi and Khan both were named in the 16-member squad to play the two ODIs against Ireland on May 28 and May 30 in Belfast.

The demotion of Afridi, who tends to divide opinion in his home country, was met by a mixed reaction in Pakistan.

Former test leg-spinner Abdul Qadir said the PCB should address Pakistan's struggling batting lineup rather than worrying about the captaincy.

“I could not understand the logic behind this decision (change of captaincy),” Qadir said “Our batsmen are struggling for a long time and we saw that in the World Cup too when we scored only 180-odd runs against weak Canada in a group match.” But another former test fast bowler Sarfraz Nawaz backed the PCB's decision, saying Afridi should be dropped from the team altogether following his performances in the West Indies.

The enigmatic all-rounder, who took 21 wickets in eight World Cup matches, managed only two against West Indies in five matches. He continued to struggle with his batting form and made only 28 runs with a poor average of 9.33 in five games in the Caribbean.

“Afridi does not deserve a place in the side,” said an outspoken Nawaz. “I think Danish Kaneria is a better leg-spinner than him and he should have been given a chance.” Nawaz said the board made the right choice by appointing Misbah as captain.

“He has been scoring consistently and is leading the team from the front in the test matches, he is the right man to lead the team in ODIs too.”
 
Squad: Misbah-ul-Haq (captain), Younis Khan, Taufeeq Umar, Mohammad Hafeez, Asad Shafiq, Azhar Ali, Shahid Afridi, Mohammad Salman, Saeed Ajmal, Abdur Rehman, Umar Akmal, Umar Gul, Wahab Riaz, Tanvir Ahmed, Junaid Khan, Hammad Azam.