Former Pakistan captain Shahid Afridi has opened up after dozens of trolls were directed towards him over lobbying to hand captaincy to Shaheen Shah Afridi.
Babar Azam stepped down as captain across three formats yesterday. Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) appointed Shaheen Afridi as captain of the T20I side while Shan Masood as the Test captain.
Afridi, who is also Shaheen's father-in-law, emphasised he has never been in favour of giving captaincy to him.
"I have never supported making Shaheen as captain. I also criticised the decision after he was made captain of PSL's franchise Lahore Qalandars,” Afridi said on a local news channel.
"Whose mouths should I shut? By reading things on social media, I'm just feeling regretful," he added.
Afridi also revealed that during a meeting with Caretaker Prime Minister Anwaar-ul-Haq Kakar and PCB Management Committee chairman Zaka Ashraf, he advised not to change Babar Azam from Tests.
"When the Prime Minister asked me, I said, 'Don't change Babar Azam hastily; keep him as the permanent captain for Test matches. To Zaka Ashraf, I advised Mohammad Rizwan to be the white-ball captain since he has done great with Multan Sultans," he added.
Remember, Shan’s first assignment as captain will be a three-match Test series against Australia in Australia starting from 14 December. He has been appointed captain till the end of the ICC World Test Championship 2023-25.
Meanwhile, left-arm pacer Shaheen Shah will lead Pakistan Men’s Team in the T20I format and his first assignment as captain will be the five-match T20I series in New Zealand from 12 to 21 January.
- Shahid Afridi
- Babar Azam