Shadab Khan: “Let’s see how it goes playing under his captaincy for the first time; it will give an idea of how much fun it is, and I am very excited to play under Shaheen’s captaincy”
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Pakistan spinner Shadab Khan said he is ready to see what Shaheen Shah Afridi can do as Pakistan’s T20I captain and wants to get an idea of “how much fun it is.”
The 25-year-old admitted that he and the rest of the team “had a great time” playing under Babar Azam, who resigned from the leadership role in all three formats after Pakistan’s poor performance in the 2023 ICC Cricket World Cup.
Given how Shaheen led the Lahore Qalandars to consecutive titles in the Pakistan Super League (PSL) in 2022 and 2023, Shadab is interested to see how the 23-year-old goes about the Pakistan captaincy.
“Look, everyone has their own decision, and Babar has stepped down. We send him our best wishes. We’ve had a great time with him as the captain for Pakistan,” he told Cricket Pakistan.
“Now, Shaheen has taken on the role, and we’re excited about it. We’ve witnessed his [Shaheen’s] captaincy in the PSL, and it feels great. Let’s see how it goes playing under his captaincy for the first time; it will give an idea of how much fun it is, and I am very excited to play under Shaheen’s captaincy.”
Afridi recently played for Pakistan in their three-match Test series against Australia and took eight wickets in the first two Tests at an average of 41.62.
Shadab, meanwhile, was not selected for the series, which Pakistan lost 3-0.
Afridi will now make his debut as T20I captain during the five-match series against New Zealand, which starts on January 12 in Auckland.
Pakistan Squad for New Zealand T20I Series: Shaheen Shah Afridi (captain), Aamer Jamal, Abbas Afridi, Azam Khan (wicketkeeper), Abrar Ahmed, Babar Azam, Fakhar Zaman, Haris Rauf, Haseebullah Khan (wicketkeeper), Iftikhar Ahmed, Mohammad Nawaz, Mohammad Rizwan (wicketkeeper), Mohammad Wasim Jnr, Sahibzada Farhan, Saim Ayub, Usama Mir and Zaman Khan
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