Fast bowler Shaheen Afridi has become a Pakistan sensation in no big time. The left-arm speedster has risen up the ranks in International cricket as well as in the Pakistan Super League. Afridi was recently appointed as the captain of the Pakistan T20 side, replacing Babar Azam at the helm.
His appointment is not a surprise as he has Lahore Qalandars to back-to-back PSL titles in 2022 and 2023. He has opened up on many aspects including how he sees Pakistan captaincy and also about the ongoing claims of his dip in speed.
When asked about whether Pakistan's captaincy is a step up from the PSL captaincy, the pacer said there are no differences but the national captaincy is slightly easier than the PSL one. "I don't think there's any difference. If anything, Pakistan cricket captaincy is slightly easier because the boys have played together, all through the domestic circuit together as well. We can express ourselves in our own language and understand our role. In franchise cricket, you have players from overseas, and you work with different coaches. That can get tricky, but in Pakistan cricket there's greater familiarity," he said as quoted by ESPNCricinfo.
Meanwhile, Afridi has had a tough start to his tenure as the T20I captain. He took charge for the first time in his team's trip to New Zealand. The Men in Green lost four matches in a row in that five-match series before getting the wooden spoon with a win in the final game. He took charge from Babar Azam, who stepped down from the all-format captaincy after the ODI World Cup 2023. Shan Masood was named the Test captain.
There's a World Cup around the corner in little over three months and they will play only four away T20Is after the ongoing PSL against England before the World Cup loads in. The ongoing PSL ends on March 18 and the Men in Green have little less than two months for their next International assignment, which is the four-match T20I series against England from May 22.
