Shaheen Shah Afridi was replaced by Babar Azam
Pakistan’s pace-bowling spearhead Shaheen Afridi shared a cryptic story on his official Instagram handle days after unceremoniously losing the Men in Green’s T20I captaincy. Shaheen was named the T20I skipper after Babar Azam relinquished captaincy across formats following Pakistan’s group-stage exit from the 2023 ODI World Cup. The left-arm fast bowler’s stint began with a 4-1 away from home series loss to New Zealand earlier this year. However, he got just one series to prove his worth as a leader, as Babar was re-appointed as Pakistan’s white-ball captain on March 31. It was also reported that Shaheen was unhappy with the Pakistan Cricket Board’s (PBC) lack of communication regarding his sacking.
Story shared by Shaheen
Shaheen shared an Instagram story on Friday, April 5, which read: “Never ever put me in a position where I have to show you how cruel and ruthless I can be. Don’t test my patience. Because I might be the kindest and sweetest person you’ve ever met, but once I reach my limit, you’ll see me do the things that no one thought I was capable of doing.”
He performed very poorly in Pakistan Super League 2024
Shaheen Afridi had a dismal Pakistan Super League (PSL 2024) season as the captain of Lahore Qalandars, with the side finishing last with just one win from 10 outings. Shaheen picked up 14 wickets in 10 matches at an economy rate of 8.61.
Shahid Afridi supports son-in-law Shaheen Afridi
“I always tried to keep Shaheen away from captaincy” – Shahid Afridi opens up on his son-in-law Shaheen Afridi’s sacking as T20I captain. Former Pakistan captain and Shaheen Afridi’s father-in-law Shahid Afridi recently spoke about how he never wanted the talented seamer to become the skipper. He mentioned that he wants Shaheen to focus on his own performance. Shahid Afridi was quoted as saying by Geo News: “I want Shaheen to focus on his own cricket. I always tried to keep Shaheen away from captaincy.”
Shaheen is upset with PCB
It has been reported that Shaheen Afridi wasn’t kept in the loop when PCB was discussing about replacing him as the T20I captain. “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,” a source was quoted as saying by news agency PTI.
Pakistan are set to host New Zealand for a five-match home series. The opening encounter will take place at the Rawalpindi Cricket Stadium on April 18.