During a media interaction, Shaheen Shah Afridi, the fast bowler from Pakistan, said that he would rather strive to win matches for the country than aim at captaincy.
Afridi became Pakistan’s T20I skipper in place of Babar Azam who resigned but emphasized that administration duties are beyond him and not his wish.
“Pakistan is my first priority then comes the team and lastly it is me,” Afridi described. “I do not like thinking about the past. I live in the present and do not hope about tomorrow. If you are good now, you can be better prepared for what will happen soon. Captaincy isn’t entirely up to me and I have never played cricket only to becomes its captain. My desire is to play cricket with dignity for Pakistan.”
Afridi was appointed as T20I captain after Pakistan failed to advance beyond group stages of 2023 ODI World Cup held in India. He had a bad record when leading against New Zealand which resulted in Pakistan losing 1-4 in a five-match series.
However, Afridi’s brief stay as T20I captain came to an end when Babar Azam was reinstated as Pakistan’s white-ball captain ahead of 2024 T20 World Cup.
Shaheen speaks again about himself as a sportsman focused on contributing towards success of his squad instead on his own achievements. His main purpose remains winning cricket matches for Pakistan on the pitch.
