WATCH: Shahid Afridi rubbishes allegations of pushing for Shaheen Shah Afridi’s captaincy

Former Pakistan captain Shahid Afridi has denied any involvement in discussions or attempts to push for Shaheen Shah Afridi’s appointment as the T20I captain. This response follows Babar Azam’s abrupt resignation from captaincy across all formats and the subsequent announcements by the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) naming Shaheen as the T20 captain and Shan Masood as the Test captain.

The former Pakistan skipper speaking on a local news channel, addressed the ongoing speculations surrounding his purported role in influencing the captaincy decisions. Afridi refuted rumours of being involved in any lobbying activities to secure the captaincy for his son-in-law, Shaheen Shah Afridi, in the Pakistan cricket team.

“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. Am not involved in these things. Don’t have to, and I don’t like it either,” Afridi said.

Watch the video here:

“Making Shaheen a captain is entirely Hafeez’s and the PCB chairman’s decision. I have nothing to do with that. I was against it even when he took over Lahore’s captaincy. I told the Chairman not to remove Babar yet. Even if you do, make Rizwan a captain then”, @SAfridiOfficial pic.twitter.com/efL4TqdVlw

— Ihtisham Ul Haq (@iihtishamm) November 16, 2023

I said that Babar should not be removed from the captaincy: Shahid Afridi

The legendary Pakistan all-rounder disclosed that he shared his perspective on the captaincy. He did it when Zaka Ashraf asked for his opinion during the program. Afridi’s comments imply that he was supporting the idea of keeping Babar Azam as the captain. Afridi even wanted to keep Shaheen Afridi away from a 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.

The Pakistan team will be up for their next assignment after the World Cup 2023 debacle. The 1992 World Cup winners will be travelling to Australia for a series of three Test matches. The Pakistan team will be playing a 4-day warm-up match vs Prime Ministers XI on December 6. The Pakistan team will be playing their first Test which is scheduled to be played at Perth Stadium on December 14.