Shahid Afridi believes Babar Azam ought to have backed Shaheen Afridi when he was captain.

Following Pakistan’s humiliating elimination from the present T20 World Cup, former cricketer Shahid Afridi reignited the discussion on the captaincy of his country. The Babar Azam-led team recovered against Canada, which gave them some confidence, but they fell against the United States and India, nearly eliminating them from the competition. But in the USA vs. Ireland encounter, weather had other ideas, and the team was eliminated from the game.

Following their departure, Shahid Afridi outlined the errors made by the selector’s committee and said that Babar was not entitled to reclaim the captaincy. Remarkably, the 29-year-old gave up his captaincy after the 2023 ODI World Cup. Shan Masood was named the new Test captain, while Shaheen Afridi was named the new T20I captain.

Many people had high hopes for Shaheen, but after Pakistan’s five-match T20I series defeat at the hands of New Zealand, the bowler did not perform well as captain of the PSL. In light of that, the selection committee decided to reappoint Babar as captain, which the former cricket player said was a mistake. He pointed out that Babar ought to have reassured Shaheen and stood by him in the midst rather than accepting the position.

“I believe Babar ought to have backed Shaheen there and said, ‘No, if you have made him (Shaheen) the captain, then we are ready to play under his captaincy because Shaheen has been playing with me for a long time.’ If the decision regarding Shaheen’s captaincy had been made and you (PCB) had stated that he will remain the captain till the (T20) World Cup.

“Yeah, I will back him and play under his captaincy if he is named captain and the selection committee has designated him as such.” This is the position Babar ought to have adopted.

On his YouTube channel, Shahid Afridi stated, “Babar would have set an example with a remarkable decision, which would have greatly increased respect for him.”

Although he pointed out that some of the selectors on record had previously dismissed him due to his lacklustre leadership abilities, the 47-year-old continued, saying he doesn’t blame Babar for accepting the position.

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“However, Babar’s fault was not the only one involved; the selection committee also bears some of the blame, as some of the selectors who were on record as saying that Babar Azam lacks the necessary skills to be a captain,” Afridi concluded.