Misbah-ul-Haq: “Babar was removed from [the] captaincy in the wrong manner and so was Shaheen Afridi”
Image taken by: Bimal Mirwani
Former Pakistan head coach and chief selector Misbah-ul-Haq believes Babar Azam and Shaheen Shah Afridi were “removed from [the] captaincy in the wrong manner.”
Azam resigned from the role in November 2023, while Afridi replaced the 29-year-old as T20I captain, but was only in charge for one series.
After leading the men in green in their five-match T20I series against New Zealand in January 2024, the 24-year-old subsequently lost the captaincy and Azam was reappointed as limited overs captain.
Misbah admitted that the entire ordeal has been “extremely unpleasant” and acknowledged that it will have a negative impact on the players and the team as a whole.
“The process of changing captain in Pakistan is extremely unpleasant and this affects the players and the team,” he was quoted as saying by Cricket Pakistan.
“Babar was removed from [the] captaincy in the wrong manner and so was Shaheen Afridi. Both Babar and Shaheen are our star players and my best wishes are with the team and I hope they perform well.”
Azam and Afridi recently featured in the 2024 Pakistan Super League (PSL), where they captained the Peshawar Zalmi and Lahore Qalandars respectively.
Azam finished as the highest run-scorer in PSL 9 with 569 runs in 11 games, which included a century and five fifties, at an average of 56.90 and a strike-rate of 142.60.
As for Afridi, he took 14 wickets in nine matches at an average of 22.14 and an economy rate of 8.61.
Pakistan’s next assignment will be a five-match T20I series against New Zealand in Rawalpindi and Lahore from April 18 to 27.
Pakistan Squad for New Zealand T20I Series: Babar Azam (captain), Abrar Ahmed, Azam Khan, Fakhar Zaman, Iftikhar Ahmed, Imad Wasim, Abbas Afridi, Mohammad Rizwan, Mohammad Amir, Irfan Khan, Naseem Shah, Saim Ayub, Shadab Khan, Shaheen Shah Afridi, Usama Mir, Usman Khan, Zaman Khan
Non-travelling reserves: Haseebullah Khan, Mohammad Ali, Mohammad Wasim Jnr, Sahibzada Farhan, Salman Ali Agha
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