With their exit in the Super Eights of the ongoing T20 World Cup, Pakistan have now failed to enter the semi-finals for the fourth consecutive time in an ICC event. With talks of Pakistan captain Salman Ali Agha being sacked and being replaced by either Shadab Khan or Shaheen Shah Afridi, the next few days will see a lot of happening in Pakistan cricket. With Khan among the contenders for the post of captaincy as per media reports, former Pakistan captain Shahid Afridi has shared how he wouldn’t event keep Shadab in the team let alone be the captain. In the T20 World Cup, Shadab Khan had a mediocre outing where he scored a total of 118 runs runs and took five wickets in seven matches.
“Looking at his performance, I wouldn’t even keep him in the team, let alone give him the captaincy. If Mike Hesson stays on as the coach, he was also there at Islamabad United in the Pakistan Super League. Mike Hesson became Pakistan’s coach after his stint in the PSL. From there, his association with Shadab started. The head coach is giving Shadab chance after chance. That’s why I said Shadab can become the next Pakistan captain. But looking at his recent performance, he doesn’t even deserve a place in the playing XI,” Afridi told Samaa TV.
Last year, when Salman Ali Agha was made the T20I captain, he was the fourth Pakistan T20I captain in the last one year. Leading Pakistan in his first T20 World Cup as captain, Agha could only score 60 runs at an average of 10.00 in seven matches. Afridi shared how he wants Fakhar Zaman as Pakistan captain in the T20I format with Zaman being an ‘aggressive’ captain. “Looking at the current situation, I would go with Fakhar Zaman. I want an aggressive captain. Right now, only one player fits the bill, and that is Fakhar,” Afridi shared.
Pakistan needed to restrict Sri Lanka to a total of 148 or below after they posted a total of 221 for 8 batting first in their last Super 8 match at Pallekele. Sri Lanka ended on 207 for 6 losing the match by just five runs with Pakistan bowing out of the marquee event. Agha had spoken about how his team had ‘underperformed’ and how he takes responsibility for the team’s show in the T20 World Cup. “If you look at the whole tournament and I had to sum it up, we underperformed. Our middle order never performed, and we over-relied on Sahibzada (Farhan) for our runs.We take responsibility. We look at conditions and the situation required before selecting our playing XI as captain and coach together. I take responsibility, as does the coach. We will have to improve our decision-making under pressure. There will always be pressure in ICC events, because you are playing the world’s best teams. And every game is important because if you lose one, you feel on the brink of elimination.” Agha said post the win over Sri Lanka last week.
