Shaheen Afridi declined vice-captaincy

Pakistan’s left-arm fast Cricketing circles were intrigued when Shaheen Shah Afridi declined the Pakistan Cricket Board’s (PCB) invitation for vice-captaincy alongside Babar Azam a week before the ICC T20 World Cup 2024.

Shaheen Afridi declined vice-captaincy

The bowler declined the selection committee’s offer to become vice-captain and Babar Azam’s second-in-command, according to sources close to Shaheen. Team sources said wicketkeeper-cum-batter Mohammad Rizwan was a strong candidate for vice-captaincy because the left-arm fast was “not prepared” to take the role. All-rounder Shadab Khan is also a candidate.

Senior sports journalist Abdul Majid Bhatti informed Geo News that Afridi took it seriously after losing the T20 captaincy after five matches. He stated that the bowler focused on personal cricket rather than team togetherness before the T20 World Cup. Bhatti claimed that the pacer’s father-in-law Shahid Afridi advised him to focus on performance, which led to several opportunities to lead his team.

Afridi had been named Man of the Match in his last two matches against New Zealand in the April five-match T20I series, the veteran writer said.

He said Azam’s captaincy united the national squad. Afridi didn’t want to undermine the team’s unity or indulge in media speculations, but he wanted to improve his performance to help Pakistan win. Pakistan named their T20 World Cup 2024 squad yesterday. The tournament begins on June 1 in the US and West Indies.

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.  The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) reinstalled Babar Azam as white-ball captain in March 2024 ahead of the Green Shirts’ five-match T20I series against New Zealand in April.

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