Babar should not have been removed from captaincy, says Afridi

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Maverick cricket star Shahid Afridi expressed disappointment over the change in Pakistan's captaincy following the team’s poor performance at the World Cup.

Babar Azam, who failed to lead Pakistan to the semifinals in India, announced his decision to resign as captain from all formats of the game on November 15.

The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) promptly replaced Babar with Shan Masood as Test captain and Shaheen Shah Afridi as the skipper in T20 cricket.

While the cricket board has yet to name a new captain for the ODIs, former players in Pakistan were not happy with the way PCB handled the captaincy issue.

Former Pakistan captain Afridi feels Babar should not have been removed from captaincy.

“Babar Azam should have continued as the captain for the red ball cricket (Test matches). He should not have been removed from the captaincy,” Afridi said during the Superfix Championship opening ceremony in Sharjah.

But Afridi also revealed that he didn’t want Shaheen, who is also his son-in-law, to take up the Pakistan captaincy.

“I told Shaheen not to take the national team’s captaincy when he asked me for advice. While it is a moment of pride for him, captaincy is not easy at all. At the end of the day, everything that happens is the responsibility of the captain,” said Afridi.