Shahid Afridi Denies Claims Of Pushing Shaheen Afridi To Replace Babar Azam As Pakistan Captain
Published - 19 Sep 2023, 05:14 PM | Updated - 23 Aug 2024, 12:19 AM
Former Pakistan captain Shahid Afridi has vehemently denied recent rumors suggesting that he is backing Shaheen Afridi to lead Pakistan in the coming days.
Pakistan has been engulfed in a major controversy ahead of the ICC World Cup 2023. The disastrous exit from Asia Cup 2023 was followed by reports of an unrest in the dressing room. According to Pakistani media, captain Babar Azam and pace spearhead Shaheen Afridi were involved in a heated altercation in the dressing room when the former was giving a dressing down to his teammates following the loss to Sri Lanka.
Wicketkeeper-batsman Mohammad Rizwan had to intervene to bring the situation under control. Several Pakistani players are also reportedly not happy with Babar Azam‘s captaincy. A number of players in the team believe that Babar Azam behaves very differently with them while leading the team on the field.
Shahid Afridi clarifies rumors:
Amidst the reports of unrest in the Pakistani dressing room, reports emerged that Shahid Afridi was pushing for Shaheen Afridi to replace Babar Azam as the captain. However, the former cricketer has denied the claims. During a recent interview with a local media news channel, Shahid Afridi vented his anger at the reports and said:
“I was scrolling through my Twitter, and I saw that now they’re running something with my name that Shahid Afridi stated, in my opinion, Shaheen Afridi can lead the team better than Babar Azam, Lahore Qalandars won a PSL trophy under his captaincy.”
“I don’t understand why they are saying such things, even though I express my views on Samaa. I share my perspective on Samaa, but they interpret it in their own way. Although I am the only person who keeps Shaheen away from the captaincy,” he added.
Meanwhile, there are also reports suggesting that Shaheen Afridi could soon replace Shadab Khan as the vice-captain of Pakistan’s limited-overs teams. Shadab Khan is under pressure after failing to do well in the Asia Cup. Even captain Babar Azam admitted that the leg-spinner has not been taking wickets for the team. On the other hand, Shaheen Afridi is a key member of the team and could be rewarded with the vice-captaincy.
