The Pakistan cricket team is going into the T20 World Cup 2024 as one. With rumors swirling around that Shaheen Afridi declined to become Babar Azam’s deputy, their white-ball skipper has confirmed that the two best players don’t have any issues with each other.
Babar & Shaheen: Victims of PCB’s mismanagement
Shaheen has a legitimate reason to be miffed with Babar and the Pakistan Cricket Board. After being announced as the new T20I skipper after just one series failure, he was sacked by the board. He even fired at the PCB for falsely claiming that he’d agreed to step down, and praised Babar following his re-admission as Pakistan’s captain.
Babar was also unfairly treated by the PCB. Despite leading Pakistan to the semifinal and final in consecutive T20 World Cups, he was asked to step down by the board after a poor ODI World Cup 2023, both as a batter and leader. Knowing what it feels like to be undermined, he’s lent his support to Shaheen.
Ahead of the England vs Pakistan 4th T20I, he said: “As a captain, I have always valued Shaheen’s (Afridi) input, and I will keep consulting him for important decisions going forward. We must take advantage of his strategic understanding of the game.”
Pakistan Cricket
Pakistan squad for T20 World Cup
Babar Azam (c), Abrar Ahmed, Azam Khan, Fakhar Zaman, Haris Rauf. Iftikhar Ahmed, Imad Wasim, Mohammad Abbas Afridi, Mohammad Amir, Mohammad Rizwan. Naseem Shah, Saim Ayub, Shadab Khan, Shaheen Shah Afridi, Usman Khan.
Pakistan’s schedule for T20 World Cup
- Pakistan vs USA on June 6 (Dallas)
- India vs Pakistan on June 9 (New York)
- Pakistan vs Canada on June 11 (New York)
- Pakistan vs Ireland on June 16 (Lauderhill)
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