Afridi says wanted to see Rizwan leading team in short-format play but Shaheen “mistakenly” became T20 captain
Former Pakistan skipper Shahid Afridi has favoured wicketkeeper-cum-batsman Mohammad Rizwan instead of left-arm quick Shaheen Shah Afridi for T20 captaincy, raising many eyebrows.
Afridi, speaking at an event in Australia, showered praises on Rizwan and preferred him over his son-in-law Shaheen for T20 captaincy.
The legendary all-rounder of his era said: “[I admire Rizwan’s] hardwork and focus level. His best quality, which I like most, is only focusing on his game and paying no heed to who doing what and what not. He is really a fighter!”
“I want to see him [Rizwan] as the T20 captain but mistakenly, Shaheen became the skipper,” Afridi said on a lighter note while looking towards the left-arm quick, who was sitting behind him at the event.
Afridi’s blunt comments sent waves of laughter through the crowd and the players on the stage including Rizwan, Harif Rauf, and Shaheen, did not go without a smile on their faces.
The lanky fast-bowler had replaced batting ace Babar Azam in the role in November. The 23-year-old bagged 64 wickets in 52 T20Is.
Shaheen had also led Lahore Qalandars in the Pakistan Super League (PSL) and has helped the side win the tournament twice in two years in the 2022 and 2023 editions.
It is not the first time that Afridi targeted Shaheen’s captaincy role. He had earlier revealed that he stopped Shaheen from accepting the Lahore Qalandars captaincy.
The 46-year-old former cricketer had advised his son-in-law to stay away from the captaincy role for a year or two in order to focus more on his bowling.
