Pakistan all-rounder Shadab Khan believes that Shaheen Afridi should have been given a longer run as the T20I captain. He was appointed captain after the 2023 ODI World Cup and Babar Azam’s subsequent resignation. However, Afridi only led the team in a solitary bilateral series against New Zealand away from home and after losing the five-match series by a 1-4 margin, he was sacked from the role as Babar was
reappointed captain as well. However, he is playing under Babar, with the pair currently part of the Pakistan squad at the 2024 T20 World Cup in the Caribbean and the United States of America (USA) as well.

“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. Unfortunately, due to injury I didn’t play under Shaheen, so when I returned, I was still playing under Babar, and things were relatively the same for me,” Shadab Khan said in an interview with Wisden. “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.”

However, things had gotten weird after Babar Azam’s re-appointment backed by PCB chairman Mohsin Naqvi. Shaheen Afridi had even
accused PCB of posting false quotes about Babar under his name.

“The camp was really helpful in terms of fitness, but I believe – and I might be wrong – that it might have been timed much better, given that many of the players had recently played quite a substantial amount of cricket. Don’t get me wrong: there was enough training and drills and a good conducive atmosphere, but not all of the players could participate as some were undergoing physical rehabilitation, which they continued here,” Shadab Khan again said.