Shadab Khan on Shaheen Shah Afridi: “Looking at it from Shaheen’s perspective, maybe he could have been given a longer run in the role. However, having Babar back also provides us with an experienced captain, so not much has changed to make it harder for me”
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Pakistan spinner Shadab Khan has admitted that left-arm seamer Shaheen Shah Afridi “could have been given a longer run” as T20I captain.
Afridi only held the role for one series, consisting of five T20Is against New Zealand in January 2024, before he was replaced by Babar Azam, who took over as limited overs skipper.
Shadab noted that such quick changes shouldn’t have happened and conceded that Afridi didn’t get a fair opportunity to showcase his leadership skills.
“From Shaheen’s point of view, things shouldn’t have changed so rapidly; instead, a system or adequate process should have been in place to ensure consistency and provide consistent results,” he told Wisden as quoted by Cricket Pakistan.
“Looking at it from Shaheen’s perspective, maybe he could have been given a longer run in the role. However, having Babar back also provides us with an experienced captain, so not much has changed to make it harder for me.”
Afridi recently represented Pakistan in the 2024 T20 World Cup and took five wickets in four games at an average of 21 and an economy rate of 6.56.
The men in green lost their first two matches against the United States of America and India before fighting back to beat Canada and Ireland.
Despite winning those two games, they were eliminated in the group stage of the competition.
Pakistan Squad for 2024 T20 World Cup: Babar Azam (capt), Saim Ayub, Mohammad Rizwan (wk), Fakhar Zaman, Azam Khan (wk), Usman Khan, Iftikhar Ahmed, Imad Wasim, Shaheen Shah Afridi, Shadab Khan, Mohammad Amir, Abbas Afridi, Naseem Shah, Haris Rauf, Abrar Ahmed
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