Former Pakistan cricket team captain Shahid Afridi bemoaned his and others’ departure as captain, urging his son-in-law Shaheen Shah Afridi to focus on his own game.
Shahid Afridi regrets losing his captaincy and wants Shaheen to focus on cricket
In a statement, the board claimed the captaincy change was a “strategic move” to ensure player well-being and top performance and to protect players’ longevity, especially fast bowlers.
“I want Shaheen to focus on his own cricket,” Afridi stated, adding that the left-arm pacer didn’t follow his advice about becoming Lahore Qalandars captain.
“I always tried to keep Shaheen away from captaincy,” Afridi said, adding that many former captains, including himself, didn’t enjoy their roles.
The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) reinstated Babar Azam as the national team’s T20I and ODI captain last week ahead of the Green Shirt’s five-match T20I series against New Zealand on April 18.
After Babar resigned as T20 captain in November 2018 after the team’s poor performance in the 2023 Asia Cup and ODI World Cup, the board appointed Shaheen.
Afridi repeated his support for Mohammad Rizwan and recalled that he had suggested the former PCB chairman to name the wicket-keeper batter as the team’s white-ball captain.
