Pakistan all-rounder Shadab Khan has asked for continuity in the team’s
captaincy to achieve better results after reports came on Shaheen Afridi’s role as T20I skipper is going in jeopardy. However, Afridi took over the reins as Pakistan’s T20I captain at the end of last year after Babar Azam stepped down.

But, he didn’t have a good series as he led the side in the lone series against New Zealand, where they suffered a 1-4 defeat. After that, the Afridi-led Lahore Qalandars faced a last-place finish in the ongoing 2024 PSL, winning only one of their ten games.

Shadab Khan backs Shaheen Afridi

While speaking at the post-match press conference after Islamabad United’s
win to advance to the grand finale, their captain Shadab Khan shared the complexities in Pakistan’s captaincy as well.

“Even now, look, we’ve given Shaheen a series, and we’re contemplating changing his captaincy. It shouldn’t be like this because in the long term, one should be given a chance to captain properly according to his process, his method. Because we want to experiment, win series as well, which could lead to issues,” said Shadab.

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However, Shaheen Afridi’s appointment as T20I captain came on the back of his successfully leading the Qalandars to back-to-back titles in 2022 and 2023 as well.
Pakistan’s next T20I assignment is a five-match series against New Zealand at home, followed by a four-match T20I series against England before the World
Cup in June as well.

“Whenever you bring someone in, things can’t change immediately” – Shadab Khan

However, Shadab Khan also requested adequate time for a new captain,
allowing him to learn rather than looking for immediate results as well. Before Afridi, Babar Azam led the T20I side, winning 42 of his 71 games as well. He also led the team in the semi-final and final of the 2021 and 2022 T20 World Cups.

“Whenever you bring someone in, things can’t change immediately. It takes time. We want many things to change immediately, but that’s not how it works; it’s a process. In this process, there are mostly failures in the beginning, and it’s important to see how we accept those failures. A captain has his own thought process, and right now, it’s unclear because discussions about changing the captain after just one series. With the World Cup, I think we need to identify players for the long run so that by the time we reach the World Cup, our issues are resolved,” he concluded.

Pakistan vice-captain Shadab Khan recently opened up on their performances ahead of the ICC Cricket World Cup 2023. He shared a fun response when he was asked about whether Pakistani cricketers are having Hyderabadi biriyani. Shadab, who was the stand-in captain in the warm-up match against Australia in World Cup 2023, cheekily said that the Pakistani players have been slow because of consuming the popular Indian food item on a ‘daily’ basis as well.

“We are eating it daily, and perhaps that is why we are getting a bit slow (laughs),” Shadab was quoted as saying.

However, Pakistan will go into the World Cup after losing both their warm-up matches against New Zealand and the Australia as well. In both games, Pakistan managed to score more than 300 runs but failed to secure victory. Against the Aussies, they were bowled out for 337 in 47.4 overs while chasing a target of 352.

Babar Azam, Iftikhar Ahmed and Mohammad Nawaz scored 90, 83 and 50 respectively, but their efforts went in vain as others failed to contribute. Hasan Ali and Usama Mir tried their best before Marnus Labuschagne removed the former to seal the deal as well.

“Our attitude was good, result not in our hands” – Shadab Khan

However, Shadab wasn’t worried after they ended up on the losing side. He was happy with the ‘attitude’ of the players in the games as well.

“Result is not important. We took a lot of positives. Our attitude was good, result not in our hands. I think our 11 is sorted, we just wanted to give time to the bench to show their skills. When you play against Australia and New Zealand, you get confidence. We got a little bit experience of conditions [in Hyderabad],” he further added.

Pakistan will play their opening match against Scott Edwards’ Netherlands on Friday, October 6 at the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium in Hyderabad.

Shadab Khan, Pakistan’s stand-in skipper and all-rounder, believes that his team’s series loss to Afghanistan will have a lot of positive effects. He also believes that the consistent efforts of experienced absentees Babar Azam and Mohammad Rizwan will be appreciated more when they return to the national setup.

At Sharjah Cricket Stadium on Sunday, Afghanistan stunned Pakistan by winning for the second time and winning the three-match T20I series

A number of players with fewer experience and credentials were given a chance to shine in the absence of the ultra-reliable top-order pair, so Babar and Rizwan were rested for the three-game series against Afghanistan in Sharjah.

Afghanistan won their first series victory over their Asian rival with a thrilling seven-wicket victory over Pakistan on Sunday despite the results of the first two games not going according to plan.

During Pakistan’s first two matches against Afghanistan, Babar and Rizwan’s usual stability early in the innings has been lacking, and Shadab believes that too many people take the performances of the experienced duo for granted.

“People criticise Babar and Rizwan regardless of whether they perform or not. There is always a sword hanging over them of strike rate. As a nation, we wanted youngsters to come in international cricket, as they were performing in PSL (Pakistan Super League), so we thought they would play with a better strike rate,”

Shadab said as quoted by ICC after the match.

“But finally, our nation will realise that experience matters and our seniors did not get the respect they deserved considering their performances. So after this series, they will get a lot more respect from the media and the nation,”

added Shadab.

In Sunday’s match, Pakistan made a meager 130/6 from 20 overs and lost three wickets in the first four overs. They were always on the back foot. Pakistan were able to reach this modest total thanks to the contributions of Shadab (32 off 25 balls with three fours) and Imad Wasim (64* off 57 balls with three fours and two sixes). After Pakistan was reduced to 63/5, the two of them put together a 67-run stand for the sixth wicket.

Afghanistan’s pick of the bowlers was Fazalhaq Farooqi (2/19). Karim Janat, Rashid Khan, and Naveen-ul-Haq each received one loss.

Shadab was left to wonder what might have been if his team had been able to post a slightly larger total as Afghanistan pursued that victory target with just one delivery remaining. Both Ibrahim Zadran (38 off 40 balls with three fours) and Rahmanullah Gurbaz (44 off 49 balls with two fours and a six) made notable contributions for Afghanistan.

For Pakistan, Zaman Khan and Insanullah each took a wicket.

“When you lose three wickets in powerplay, you lose 70 per cent of the games…the young players were nervous. They are playing for the first time for Pakistan, but we have to back them. Our motive for this series was to check out talented young players and we have to back them in the future,”

concluded Shadab.

With Pakistan trailing by 2-0 in the series, the third and final Twenty20 International will be played in Sharjah on Monday. They had fallen six wickets short in the first match.