Pakistan Cricket Board’s (PCB) attempt at ending its men’s team captaincy saga has resulted in another crisis as it has now reportedly irked Shaheen Afridi by attributing quotes in a media statement which he didn’t say.
Shaheen was already upset at how he has been treated by the PCB as the board kept him out of loop while holding discussions to remove him from T20I captaincy and name Babar Azam as his replacement just two months before the Men’s T20 World Cup.
According to a report in ESPNcricinfo, PCB has held talks with the 23-year-old to placate him and another meeting with the board chairman Mohsin Naqvi is expected to be held on Monday.
On Sunday, Pakistan announced the return of Babar as the white-ball captain while Shan Masood has kept Test captaincy. Following that, PCB released a statement in which Shaheen threw his weight behind new captain Babar.
“I will always cherish the memories and the opportunity. As a team player, it is my duty to back our captain, Babar Azam. I have played under his captaincy and have nothing but respect for him. I will try to help him on and off the field. We are all one. Our aim is the same, to help Pakistan become the best team in the world,” the statement quoted Shaheen as saying.
Babar had stepped down from the role across formats after Pakistan failed to qualify for the semi-finals of the 2023 ODI World Cup in India. Shaheen was named as the T20I captain but there was no announcement regarding who will lead the ODI team.
As per reports, the PCB wasn’t impressed with the recent performances of Shaheen as captain after he oversaw a 4-1 series defeat in New Zealand.
Additionally, under him, Lahore Qalandars finished last in the recent Pakistan Super League following which PCB decided to approach Babar and succesfuly convinced him to takeover the captaincy.
