Michael Vaughan: “Shaheen Shah Afridi is a better T20 player than Babar Azam”
Image taken by: Bimal Mirwani
Former England captain Michael Vaughan believes Pakistan left-arm seamer Shaheen Shah Afridi “is a better T20 player” than batsman Babar Azam.
Both of them were recently out of Pakistan’s T20I squad, but Afridi ended up making his comeback in the shortest format during the tour of the West Indies.
As for Azam, he continues to be overlooked by the selectors.
“Shaheen Shah Afridi is a better T20 player than Babar Azam,” Vaughan was quoted as saying by TOK Sports on X, formerly known as Twitter.
Afridi recently captained the Lahore Qalandars in the 2025 Pakistan Super League (PSL) and finished as the highest wicket-taker with 19 wickets in 13 matches at an average of 16.42 and an economy rate of 7.76.
Azam, meanwhile, was in charge of the Peshawar Zalmi and scored 288 runs in 10 games, which included three fifties, at an average of 36 and a strike-rate of 128.57.
After PSL 10, both of them were ignored for Pakistan’s T20I series against Bangladesh in Lahore and the T20I tour of Bangladesh.
Afridi returned for the T20I series against the West Indies and took two wickets in two matches at an average of 29 and an economy rate of 7.25.
As for the three-match ODI series that followed, Afridi continued to do well, claiming four wickets in two games at an average of 21.50.
Azam also featured in the ODI series and accumulated 56 runs in three matches at an average of 18.66.
Pakistan’s next assignment will be a T20I tri-series against the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Afghanistan, which will be played in Sharjah from August 29 to September 7.
Following this, the men in green will be involved in the 2025 Asia Cup, which will take place in the UAE from September 9 to 28.
Pakistan squad for UAE T20I tri-series and 2025 Asia Cup:Â Salman Ali Agha (captain), Abrar Ahmed, Faheem Ashraf, Fakhar Zaman, Haris Rauf, Hasan Ali, Hasan Nawaz, Hussain Talat, Khushdil Shah, Mohammad Haris (wicketkeeper), Mohammad Nawaz, Mohammad Wasim Jnr, Sahibzada Farhan, Saim Ayub, Salman Mirza, Shaheen Shah Afridi, Sufiyan Muqeem