Shahid Afridi Reflects On Babar Azam's Potential Move For Pakistan's T20 World Cup Captaincy

Babar Azam's leadership decisions have come under scrutiny following Pakistan's early exit from the T20 World Cup 2024. Former captain Shahid Afridi suggested on his YouTube channel that Azam could have enhanced his reputation by advocating for Shaheen Afridi as the team's captain for the tournament.

The remarks from Shahid Afridi, who is also Shaheen Afridi's father-in-law, followed Pakistan's failure to advance to the Super 8 round. Pakistan lost their opening match against the USA and subsequently fell to arch-rivals India in New York on June 9. Although they managed a victory against Canada, the USA secured a spot in the Super 8 with five points from four games. Pakistan's match against Ireland was abandoned due to rain.

"If the move regarding Shaheen's captaincy had been made and the PCB stated that he would remain the captain till the T20 World Cup, then I think Babar should have supported Shaheen there and should have said that 'no', if you have made him the captain, then we are ready to play under his captaincy because Shaheen has been playing with me for a long time," Shahid Afridi commented.

He further elaborated, "If he is made captain and the selection committee has made him the captain, I will support him and play under his captaincy. This is the stance Babar should've taken."

Shahid Afridi also noted that members of the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) selection committee have publicly criticised Babar Azam's captaincy. "Babar's respect would've increased greatly that he has set an example with a remarkable decision. But this was not entirely the fault of Babar because some of the blame lies with the selection committee too since some of the selectors on record said that Babar doesn't know how to do captaincy," he added.

Babar Azam had stepped down from his role as captain following Pakistan's early exit in the ODI World Cup 2023. However, he returned to lead the team just months before the T20 World Cup 2024.