Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) is no of surprises as once again we have witnessed in the leadership group as the newly appointed Chairman Mohsin Naqvi has appointed Babar Azam as the skipper for T20I & ODI captaincy. Earlier under the chairmanship of Zaka Ashraf, Shaheen Afridi was named as the T20I skipper against New Zealand T20I series which the side lost by 1-4. Shaheen Afridi also had a forgettable PSL 2024 which might have played a key role in the change in the captaincy.
Babar Azam’s first assignment would be against New Zealand for the 5 T20I match series which is set to commence from 18th April at Rawalpindi & Lahore stadium. It won’t be wrong to say that there will be some serious conflicts in Pakistan’s dressing room as change in leadership group means that the combinations will be changed and PCB are yet to name a coaching staff as well.
We should not forget that Babar Azam led Pakistan to the Semi Final of T20 WC 2021 & final of T20 WC 2022 but this time, it would be quite tough for him to make a mark as sources with knowledge state that Pakistan’s cricketers are not happy with the move of going back to Babar Azam. Pakistani fans would be hoping that the players sort out their issues quickly and hope that it doesn’t impact their performance in T20 WC 2024.
Shaheen Afridi believes that if the board wants to remove him they should have informed him- Source close to Shaheen Afridi
A source closed to Shaheen Afridi stated that the lethal speedster is quite upset with the communication done by PCB’s newly elected chairman Mohsin Naqvi and said that the board should have the decency to inform him for the reason behind his removal from Pakistan’s T20I skipper.
“Shaheen is rightly upset as being the national T20 captain he expected that even if the board/selectors wanted to remove him they have the decency to also inform him for the reasons behind this and keep him in the loop about everything,” said the source.
“Shaheen believes that if the Board wants to remove him they should have informed him by now as he is even willing to step down himself. In fact now he has been advised by some of his close ones to do this and step away from all the chaos and confusion being caused by the Board,” the source added.