Shaheen Afridi to step down from captaincy as Pakistan rocked by another controversy ahead of T20 World Cup: Report

Controversy and Pakistan cricket go hand in hand and it looks like the Men in Green might have to deal with another controversy ahead of the all-important T20 World Cup. Their campaign in the ODI World Cup last year was marred by several controversies and things might unfold in a similar manner in the T20 World Cup, scheduled to be played in June.

Pakistan’s T20I captain Shaheen Afridi is reportedly not happy with the way things have panned out in recent days over the captaincy of the team. Recent media reports from Pakistan have suggested that the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) is set to reinstate Babar Azam as the white-ball captain. The star batter can take charge of the team as soon as next month ahead of the five-match T20I series against Pakistan.

PCB’s revamped selection committee recently recommended the names of Babar as well as Mohammad Rizwan for the white-ball captaincy and the former is favourite to take charge of the team. And while only time will tell how things unfold in the coming days, Shaheen Afridi is disappointed over not being kept in the loop.

Shaheen Afridi to step down:

According to a report in PTI, Shaheen Afridi is upset that not even once the PCB Chairman Mohsin Naqvi or the national selectors have spoken to him regarding the appointment of the coaches as well as the captain. Disappointed with the treatment meted out to him, the pacer is contemplating stepping down as the T20 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 told the news outlet.

“Shaheen believes that if the Board wants to remove him they should have informed him by now as he is even willing to step down himself. In fact now he has been advised by some of his close ones to do this and step away from all the chaos and confusion being caused by the Board,” the source added.

Shaheen Afridi replaced Babar as the captain in November last year after the latter resigned from his post in all three formats. Under him, Pakistan have played just one T20I series – the five-match series in New Zealand and lost it 1-4.