"Prime Minister Asked Me..": Shahid Afridi On Babar Azam's Captaincy And Why He Never Backed Shaheen

After a forgettable Cricket World Cup, the Pakistan cricket team went through some big changes on Wednesday. Skipper Babar Azam resigned from his post and Shan Masood was made the Test captain while the reins of the T20I team were given to Shaheen Afridi. Pakistan lost five out of their nine matches and failed to qualify for the semifinals. Babar himself did not have a great outing in the tournament with 320 runs from 9 matches.

Shahid Afridi, a former Pakistan cricket team captain and also the father-in-law of Shaheen Afridi, has now opened up about the captaincy change.

"I was saying that there was no need for change the captain so soon. Prime Minister asked me, we were talking about cricket and captaincy. I gave my views, saying Babar should not be changed now. I thought he should continue in Test cricket. If you wanted a white-ball captain, I thought Mohammad Rizwan should have been the ideal candidate. I have said this many times in the past as well," Afridi said on SAMAA TV.

"I talked to the PCB chairman also. I told that Babar Azam should continue as the red ball captain. I told him that one-day and T20I captaincy could be given to Mohammad Rizwan. He was captaining Multan Sultans also. He knows how to take the team forward. I would say that this is Mohammad Hafeez's decision along with the chairman.

“Making Shaheen a captain is entirely Hafeez's and the PCB chairman's decision. I have nothing to do with that. I was against it even when he took over Lahore's captaincy. I told the Chairman not to remove Babar yet. Even if you do, make Rizwan a captain then”, @SAfridiOfficial pic.twitter.com/efL4TqdVlw

"In terms of Shaheen becoming the T20 captain, I never wanted to get involved in any such decisions because I know