Shahid Afridi on Shaheen Afridi and Babar Azam. Photo- Twitter
Shahid Afridi on Shaheen Afridi and Babar Azam. Photo- Twitter

Former Pakistan all-rounder Shahid Afridi has expressed unhappiness that Babar Azam has replaced Shaheen Afridi as Pakistan’s captain ahead of the T20 World Cup 2024.

Babar had stepped down as captain after a disappointing ODI World Cup campaign last year, and Shaheen was given the reins in the shortest format.

However, Pakistan underperformed in the pacer’s sole series as skipper against New Zealand, losing by 1-4 in the T20I series in New Zealand. Mohsin Naqvi, the newly appointed PCB chief, did not want to back Shaheen’s leadership, so he reinstated Babar as white-ball captain.

However, even under Babar, Pakistan failed to win the series at home against a second-string New Zealand side and then lost to England in England just before the T20 World Cup as well.

Speaking on Samaa TV, Shahid Afridi explained why he feels Babar Azam would have gained everyone’s respect had he accepted playing under Shaheen Afridi’s captaincy.

“Mai isko iss tarah leta hu ke meri nazar mei, duniya ki nazar mei, Babar Azam ki izzat aur zyad upar ho jaati agar woh ye stand leta apne player ke liye ki ‘main Shaheen ki kaptaani mei khelna chahta hu.’ Shaheen ko agar bana diya kaptaan toh ye galat tareeqa hai ke aap usko fauran kaptaani se hata dein” (How I see it is that in my eyes and the eyes of the world, respect for Babar would have grown had he taken a stand and said, ‘I will play under Shaheen’s captaincy.’ It was wrong to remove Shaheen as captain so early),” Shahid Afridi said.

Pakistan lost both of its first two games in the T20 World Cup 2024 to the USA and then to India. They need to win their remaining two games and hope other results go their way to qualify for the next round.

You never take responsibility: Shahid Afridi criticizes Babar Azam’s statements after losses

Shahid Afridi also criticized Babar Azam for his words during post-match presentation ceremonies and news conferences. The veteran cricketer believes Babar assigns a lot of blame to the bowlers and rarely accepts the batters’ faults.

“At every presentation, you (Babar) criticize the bowlers. You never take responsibility. I haven’t heard, other than on an odd occasion that you put responsibility (of a defeat) on the batsmen. A captain has to take everybody forward with him. If a captain is of a strong character, then news like the formation of groups in the team will never come out,” he added.

Here is the video:

Pakistan still has to beat Ireland by a significant margin and hope that either the United States or India lose both of their games, causing the net run rate to fall below Pakistan’s.

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