Pakistan’s all-rounder Shadab Khan opened up on Babar Azam taking captaincy back from Shaheen Afridi in March after the left-arm pacer was removed just four months after being named T20I captain.
After the conclusion of the ODI World Cup 2023, the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) decided to remove Babar Azam as the captain across captain and Shan Masood and Shaheen Afridi were named Test and T20I captains respectively while the ODI skipper position was left vacant.
Pakistan played a five-match T20I series against New Zealand in Shaheen’s captaincy which they lost 4-1. Furthermore, Lahore Qalandars could only win one match in the Pakistan Super League (PSL) 9 which raised questions about the left-arm pacer’s captaincy.
The PCB, led by Mohsin Naqvi, then decided to bring Babar Azam back as a captain and the Green Shirts played three series — New Zealand at home, Ireland and England away — under his captaincy in two months and managed to win just one, against Ireland.
Talking to Wisden, Shadab revealed that as per Shaheen’s perspective, he should have been given more time but Babar’s return just before the World Cup gave Pakistan an edge as he is experienced.
“From Shaheen’s point of view, things shouldn’t have changed so rapidly; instead, a system or adequate process should have been in place to ensure consistency and provide consistent results. Unfortunately, due to injury I didn’t play under Shaheen, so when I returned, I was still playing under Babar, and things were relatively the same for me,” Shadab said.
“Looking at it from Shaheen’s perspective, maybe he could have been given a longer run in the role. However, having Babar back also provides us with an experienced captain, so not much has changed to make it harder for me.”
Remember, this will be Babar’s third T20 World Cup with Pakistan as a captain and under his captaincy, the Green Shirts managed to make it to the semi-final in 2021 and final in 2022 where they lost to Australia and England respectively.
- Shadab Khan
