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Prior to the World Cup roster announcement, Shaheen Afridi was offered the vice-captaincy of the Pakistan T20 team, but he turned down the opportunity. The fast bowler rejected the PCB selection committee’s suggestion to formally designate Shaheen as Babar Azam’s deputy for the 2024 T20 World Cup. Ultimately, there was no deputy captain on the World Cup team, which was announced just hours before the ICC deadline for submitting the final roster.
Even though Shaheen chose to move on from the incident of losing the T20 captaincy after just one series, there is still a feeling of injustice. The athlete was said to be reluctant to take on a new leadership role after being abruptly removed from his previous one, and he has never felt that the reasons for his departure were ever sufficiently disclosed to him.
The most recent event in the PCB-Shaheen drama only serves to highlight the difficulties that lie ahead in repairing a relationship that was severely strained just a few weeks ago. At a press conference in March, PCB chairman Mohsin Naqvi made hints that Shaheen would be replaced. After Shaheen was confirmed, the PCB released a statement on their website that included comments from Shaheen encouraging Babar.
When it became clear that Shaheen had never uttered the things that were being ascribed to him, Naqvi hurried to Kakul, where the players were undergoing military training. It was believed that a tense truce had been established.
But Shaheen’s refusal to accept another opportunity to assume a leadership role shows how shaky that truce is still. Shaheen is a member of the T20 team’s core leadership group, but it’s believed he doesn’t need to assume a formal job that defines it—especially because it’s a step down from the position he held only a few weeks prior.
The PCB selection committee considered other options in addition to Shaheen, even though she was their first pick. Former vice captain Shadab Khan was one of the front-runners, but his poor ball-handling record and Pakistan’s propensity to bench him in the top order make it unlikely that he will start in the starting lineup. The committee ultimately decided against proposing Muhammad Rizwan to be Babar’s deputy because they wanted to name a younger player in the role.