Pakistan's left-arm pacer Shaheen Afridi is not thinking about captaincy. Afridi said that he wants to stay in present and not dwell over something which is not in his hands. Amidst uncertainty over whether Babar Azam will continue to captain in limited-overs, Afridi wants to focus on his game.
"Pakistan is first and foremost for me, then it's the team, and I come after that. I don't like to think about the past. My job is to be in the present and I don't think about the future. If your present is good, you can be well-prepared for the future. Captaincy is not in my hands and I have never played my cricket for captaincy. I want to play cricket for Pakistan and I will do that with dignity," Pakistan’s pace-bowling spearhead told the reporters in Karachi during his son-in-law Shahid Afridi’s foundation’s event.
Shaheen was made captain after Babar stepped down from the role in all formats following Pakistan's exit from ODI World Cup 2023 in India. He led the team on New Zealand soil in five-T2OI series. Pakistan managed to win just one out of five games. When Mohsin Naqvi became Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) chief, he reinstated Babar as captain.
Will Shaheen be dropped?
Earlier this month, it was reported that during Pakistan's tour of England and Ireland before the T20 World Cup 2024, he was involved in a heated exchange with batting coach Mohammad Yousuf. There were also reports of his alleged refusal to take part in team meetings. It was also speculated that he will miss the two-Test series against Bangladesh and will face disciplinary action. Shaheen had commented on the news saying he is unaware whether he will be dropped.
"I don’t know if I’m being dropped from the Test series [against Bangladesh]. My role is to play cricket, and I would do that with dignity," he said as quoted by Cricket Pakistan.
Two-Test series against Bangladesh
Pakistan are set to face Bangladesh at home in a two-Test series starting August 21 at Rawalpindi Cricket Stadium. They are currently placed fifth, just above Ben Stokes' England on World Test Championship (WTC) 2023-25 points table.
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