PAK vs NZ: Shaheen Afridi Ditches His Own Vice Captain Mohammad Rizwan To Name Pakistan's Best Player

Shaheen Afridi has opened up on Babar Azam’s poor form with the bat in recent times ahead of Pakistan’s five-match T20I series against New Zealand. The former Pakistan captain is facing severe criticism for failing to do well with the bat in recent times.

He finished 2023 without a single half-century in Tests and also failed to live up to the expectations with the bat in the Asia Cup as well as the ODI World Cup. He was criticized for his strike rate as well as his failure to do well in pressure situations against tougher opposition.

Soon after Pakistan’s World Cup campaign ended disappointingly, Babar Azam stepped down as the captain in all three formats. It was expected that the decision to leave captaincy will help him regain his best form during the three-match Test series in Australia.

Shaheen Afridi on Babar Azam’s form:

However, Babar Azam’s fortunes with the bat did not change even after he left the captaincy. He struggled throughout the three-match series against Australia and could not score a single half-century. The right-handed batsman finished the series with 126 runs, scored at an average of 21.

The poor performance against Australia has only piled more pressure on him ahead of the T20I series against New Zealand. And ahead of the series, he has received some much-needed support from his new T20I captain Shaheen Afridi. The pacer was addressing the media on Thursday (January 11) when he was asked about Babar Azam’s form. In reply, Afridi hailed his teammate as the best batsman of Pakistan and made it clear that he is firmly behind him.

Watch:

"Babar Azam is Pakistan's best player" – Shaheen Shah Afridi says there are no concerns about Babar Azam's batting.#NZvPAK pic.twitter.com/CNgjD7SW75

— Grassroots Cricket (@grassrootscric) January 11, 2024

Meanwhile, the five-match T20I series will mark Afridi’s first series as Pakistan‘s full-time captain. After Babar Azam stepped down as the captain, Afridi was named the T20I captain while Shan Masood was named the Test captain. The series is scheduled to get underway on Friday (January 12) in Auckland.

Pakistan squad: Shaheen Afridi (c), Aamir Jamal, Abbas Afridi, Azam Khan, Abrar Ahmed, Babar Azam, Fakhar Zaman, Haris Rauf, Haseebullah Khan, Iftikhar Ahmed, Mohammad Nawaz, Mohammad Rizwan, Mohammad Wasim Jr., Sahibzada Farhan, Saim Ayub, Usama Mir, Zaman Khan