"I never think about captaincy..." - Shaheen Afridi takes an indirect dig at Babar Azam

Shaheen Afridi, Pakistan's premier pacer of the current squad across formats, has made a big statement ahead of the ICC Champions Trophy.

Shaheen was dropped as the T20I captain just before the T20 World Cup. Under him, Pakistan lost to New Zealand in an away bilateral T20I series. Pakistan's performance under Babar Azam was no better as the side was eliminated from the tournament from the league stage itself.

The Champions Trophy 2025 is the next big ICC event for Pakistan. They are the defending champions of the Champions Trophy having won the previous edition in 2017. Speaking ahead of the tournament, he said that he never thinks about captaincy and wants to play for his country with respect.

"I never think about captaincy of Pakistan and only want to play for Pakistan with respect," said Shaheen as quoted by Geo News Journalist Arfa Feroz Zake.

🚨 SHAHEEN AFRIDI - "I never think about captaincy of Pakistan and only want to play for Pakistan with respect." #CT25

— Arfa Feroz Zake (@ArfaSays_) July 29, 2024

Pakistan will venture into a long season of Test cricket starting with the Test series against Bangladesh on July 21. They play a two-Test match series against Bangladesh, a three-Test match series against England, followed by a two-Test match series each against South Africa and West Indies.

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Shaheen has played a lot of white-ball cricket in the past few months and could potentially miss the two-match Test series against Bangladesh. The concerning news was brought to light by Pakistan Test coach Jason Gillespie in a recent interaction with local reporters. He said that the workload of Shaheen Shah Afridi and Naseem Shah needs to be monitored as they play multiple formats.

Shaheen Afridi May Miss Bangladesh Test Series

Gillespie further mentioned that Shaheen could potentially miss the Bangladesh series as he and his wife are expecting their first child.

"Shaheen can miss Bangaladesh Test matches due to childbirth. We can give him [some] rest if he wants to stay with his wife till then," he said.

Speaking about Pakistan WTC 2023-25 campaign so far, they won a two-match Test series against Sri Lanka in July 2023. Then they faced a Test series loss to Australia under the leadership of Shan Masood at the start of 2024. Afridi was a part of the Test series as well.

So far in the campaign, they have played five Test matches with two wins and three losses. With Test matches up against the likes of England, South Africa, and West Indies, The Men In Green have a tough campaign ahead. They will need to beat quality teams to make it to the final of this WTC edition. Pakistan finished fifth in the last two WTC editions as well.

Pakistan cricket at the moment needs matchwinning characters within the team and Shaheen Afridi is one of their match-winners who can inspire the team to big wins in the future.

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