“Babar Azam Should’ve Supported Shaheen Afridi”: Shahid Afridi On Captaincy Saga After World Cup Exit

Former Pakistan captain Shahid Afridi has lashed out at Babar Azam for accepting the captaincy role after the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) sacked Shaheen Afridi after just one series. Babar, who had stepped down as captain after the ODI World Cup last year, was re-appointed as the skipper for the T20 World Cup. This came after Shaheen lost his captaincy after a 4-1 series loss away at New Zealand. It proved to be Shaheen’s first and last series as captain. Babar led the team during the home series against New Zealand and the away series against England ahead of the T20 World Cup.

With Pakistan failing to get out of the T20 World Cup stage, Babar has come under fire for his leadership. Former Pakistan captain Shahid Afridi re-ignited the Babar-Shaheen captaincy debate.

Afridi said that Babar should’ve supported Shaheen and declined PCB’s offer to captain the team at the World Cup, saying that the star batter could’ve earned respect had he done so.

“If the decision on Shaheen’s captaincy had been made and you [PCB] had stated that he will remain the captain till the [T20] World Cup, then I think Babar [Azam] should have supported Shaheen there and should have said that ‘no, if you have made him [Shaheen] the captain, then we are ready to play under his captaincy because Shaheen has been playing with me for a long time. If he is made captain and the selection committee has made him the captain, then yes I will support him and play under his captaincy’. This is the stance Babar should’ve taken. Babar’s respect would’ve increased greatly that he has set an example with a remarkable decision,” Afridi said on his YouTube channel.

Afridi also recalled how some of the selectors themselves had questioned his captaincy abilities after the 2023 ODI World Cup, labelling Babar as a “pathetic” skipper.

“But this was not entirely the fault of Babar because some of the blame lies with the selection committee too since some of the selectors on record said that Babar is a pathetic captain and he doesn’t know how to do captaincy,” he added.