Shahid Afridi has debunked allegations blaming him for advocating for the captaincy of Pakistan’s newly appointed T20I skipper Shaheen Afridi.

Pakistan underwent radical changes in both management and leadership roles after their group-stage exit in the 2023 World Cup. While Mohammad Hafeez replaced Mickey Arthur as the director of cricket, among other reshuffles in the think-tank, Babar Azam stepping down as the all-format captain was the main talking point.

Shortly after Babar’s resignation, the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) named Shan Masood and Shaheen Shah Afridi as the new captains in Test cricket and T20Is respectively. With Pakistan not scheduled to play an ODI until November 2023, they have not named a captain in the format.

The captaincy rejig ignited a series of rumours on social media as people accused Shahid Afridi of lobbying for his son-in-law, Shaheen, to become the captain. Shahid Afridi refuted the claims while speaking to Samaa TV.

Shahid Afridi stated that he had, in fact, advised interim prime minister Anwaar ul Haq Kakar to persist with Babar as Pakistan captain in Test cricket: “I was saying that there was no need for change in such a short time. Prime minister asked me, if we were talking about captaincy, I gave my views, saying Babar need not be changed now. I thought he should continue in Test cricket.”

Shahid Afridi claimed to have batted for Mohammad Rizwan as the limited-overs captain, playing down allegations of him favouring his son-in-law: “I always have been in favour of Mohammad Rizwan. I swear, I never talked about making Shaheen the captain, nor did I ever lobby. I am not involved in these things. I don’t have to, and I don’t like it either.”

Shaheen Shah Afridi led the Lahore Qalandars to the PSL title in the last two editions.

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