Shahid Afridi: “I am not even remotely related to the cricket board. I suggested Shaheen not to take up franchise captaincy either in PSL, let alone [the] national team captaincy”
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Shahid Afridi, the iconic Pakistan six-hitter, said he didn’t want Shaheen Shah Afridi to captain the Lahore Qalandars in the Pakistan Super League (PSL) and nor does he want the 23-year-old to lead the national team.
Shahid recalled how he made this suggestion to Shaheen, who is married to his daughter, but the left-arm fast bowler currently captains the Qalandars and has led them to two consecutive PSL titles.
Given his success as a leader in the tournament, some people have floated the idea of Shaheen replacing Babar Azam as Pakistan captain, but Shahid reiterated that he doesn’t want this to happen.
“I am not even remotely related to the cricket board. I suggested Shaheen not to take up franchise captaincy either in PSL, let alone [the] national team captaincy,” he was quoted as saying by Cricket Pakistan.
Pakistan’s next assignment will be a two-Test tour of Sri Lanka in July, which Shaheen has returned for. He last played the longest format in July 2022 as he suffered two knee injuries in that time, which kept him out of action for a few months.
Pakistan Squad for Sri Lanka Test Series:Â Babar Azam (c), Mohammad Rizwan (vc & wk), Aamer Jamal, Abdullah Shafique, Abrar Ahmed, Hasan Ali, Imam-ul-Haq, Muhammad Huraira, Mohammad Nawaz, Naseem Shah, Noman Ali, Salman Ali Agha, Sarfaraz Ahmed (wk), Saud Shakeel, Shaheen Shah Afridi and Shan Masood