'Babar Azam should have played under Shaheen Afridi'

Following the rumours of an imminent wholesale change in the Pakistan team after the ongoing T20 World Cup 2024, former all-rounder Shahid Afridi has suggested that replacing top players will not be an easy task.

The Babar Azam-led Pakistan team were eliminated from the marquee event in the group-stage, the first time since T20 World Cup 2016.

Speculations intensified about a potential major change in the Pakistan team after Pakistan lost their opening game at the T20 World Cup 2024 and later were defeated by India in a close-tie on June 9.

Now, former Pakistan captain Shahid Afridi has opened up on the potential reshuffle in the team and has suggested that dropping players such as Babar Azam and Mohammad Rizwan might not be a good idea amid a lack of bench strength.

“I saw on social media that they want to drop 8-9 players. I don’t know what’s the reality but this can’t happen. You can drop 8-9 players when you have the next lot ready to take over. If you want to drop Babar, not as a player, do you have anyone to replace him? Do you have any performer like Babar? Do we have a replacement for Rizwan in our bench?” Afridi remarked in a video uploaded to his YouTube channel.

According to the former captain, team management can take such a drastic measure only if they have the next lineup prepared and ready to take to the field.

Afridi also discussed the captaincy saga in the Pakistan team that occurred just before the T20 World Cup 2024, saying that Babar Azam should have declined to replace Shaheen Afridi in the leading role.

Azam was removed from white-ball captaincy after Pakistan failed to make the semifinals in the 2023 ODI World Cup.

Shaheen Afridi was named as the new skipper of T20 team, however, he was relieved of his duty weeks before the ongoing marquee event.

“Babar [Azam] should have supported Shaheen there and should have said that ‘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 he is made captain and the selection committee has made him the captain, then yes I will support him and play under his captaincy’. This is the stance Babar should’ve taken.,” Shahid Afridi said.

Afridi suggested that declining the PCB’s offer would have increased Babar Azam’s respect.