Shahid Afridi refutes allegations of pushing for Shaheen’s captaincy

Staff Report

KARACHI: Former Pakistan captain Shahid Afridi has refuted any participation in talks or efforts to advocate for the appointment of Shaheen Shah Afridi as the T20I captain. This came as a response of Babar Azam’s sudden resignation from the captaincy in all formats, followed by the announcements of Shaheen as the T20 captain and Shan Masood as the Test captain by the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB). While talking on a local news channel, Afridi addressed the swirling speculations surrounding his alleged efforts to influence the captaincy decisions.  “I always have been in the favor of Mohammad Rizwan. I swear, I never talked about making Shaheen the captain, nor did I ever lobby. I am not involved in these things. I don’t have to, and I don’t like it either,” Afridi said. Afridi’s remarks seem to suggest that he was advocating for the retention of Babar Azam as the captain and distancing Shaheen Afridi from the leadership role. “I said that Babar should not be removed from the captaincy. I wanted to keep Shaheen away from the captaincy. It has to happen; this is what happens to the captain in the end,” he further added.