The captaincy of the Pakistan cricket team has been in spotlight in the past six months or so. It first hogged limelight when Babar Azam stepped down from his role as Pakistan skipper across formats following the team’s poor campaign in Cricket World Cup 2023. After this Shan Masood was appointed as the Test captain of Pakistan and Shaheen Afridi was handed the responsibility to lead the team in the T20I format. Shaheen could stay in the role only for one series. It was a five-match contest against New Zealand that Pakistan lost 4-1 and Shaheen was sacked as the T20I captain with Babar Azam replacing him in the role.
Babar led Pakistan to a 2-1 series win before the side came up against England in a four-match T20I series that is currently underway.
Despite several rumours about a rift between Shaheen and Babar, things looked good in the Pakistan camp. However, a recent report has re-ignited the cliams.
Shaheen refused to take up the role of Pakistan vice-captain in the T20I format ahead of the upcoming World Cup in USA and West Indies, stated a report in ESPNcricinfo.
Pakistan on May 24 announced the squad for T20 World Cup 2024 and surprisingly, no one was assigned the position of vice-captain.
Pakistan squad for T20 World Cup: Babar Azam (captain), Abrar Ahmed, Azam Khan, Fakhar Zaman, Haris Rauf, Iftikhar Ahmed, Imad Wasim, Mohammad Abbas Afridi, Mohammad Amir, Mohammad Rizwan, Naseem Shah, Saim Ayub, Shadab Khan, Shaheen Shah Afridi, Usman Khan.
Player support personnel: Wahab Riaz (senior team manager), Mansoor Rana (team manager), Gary Kirsten (head coach), Azhar Mahmood (assistant coach), Simon Helmot (fielding coach), David Reid (mental performance coach), Aftab Khan (high performance coach), Cliffe Deacon (physiotherapist), Irtaza Komail (chief security officer), Mohammad Imran (masseur), Mohammad Khurram Sarwar (team doctor), Talha Ijaz (analyst), Raza Kitchlew (media and digital manager) and Drikus Saaiman (strength and conditioning coach).
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