Shahid Afridi denies lobbying for Shaheen's captaincy
Babar Azam, Shaheen Afridi
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Bracewell leads depleted New Zealand in Pakistan T20 series
11 Mar 25
Former cricketer Shahid Afridi has blown away the speculation that the appointment of Shaheen Shah Afridi as the skipper of Pakistan in the shorter version of the game was his decision.
Shahid Afridi stated that he didn't even want Shaheen to lead the side, stating that Mohammad Rizwan should have been named the captain in white-ball formats. He also said he wanted Babar to retain his leadership role in Tests.
“Shaheen as captain is entirely Mohammad Hafeez’s and the PCB chairman’s decision. I have nothing to do with that. I never lobbied for Shaheen's captaincy. In fact, I have always wanted to keep Shaheen away from the captaincy,” Afridi was quoted as saying on Samaa TV.
“I was never in favour of Babar Azam's removal. I also told the PCB chairman that he should not remove Babar from the captaincy. I wanted Mohammad Rizwan to be the white-ball captain and Babar to be the captain of the Test team,” he further said.
Babar quit as Pakistan captain across all formats after meeting with Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) chairman Zaka Ashraf on Wednesday.
Besides Shaheen, the PCB on Wednesday also appointed Shan Masood as the new Test captain.
