Removing Shaheen Afridi from the captaincy was unjust: Moin Khan

Babar Azam stepped down from captaincy after the ODI World Cup 2023. Pakistan Cricket Board then announced the appointment of Shaheen Shah Afridi as T20I skipper and Shan Masood as the captain of the red-ball unit. In Shaheen’s debut series as captain, Pakistan lost by 4-1, which propelled PCB to once again contact Babar and appoint him as the white-ball skipper, within six months of his resignation.

Under Babar, Pakistan once again flopped. They lost to the USA and India in the group stage of the T20 World Cup and were eliminated in the first round. It put him under immense pressure and now, there are reports of him getting axed. Former cricketer Moin Khan recently opened up on the matter and stated that Shaheen was an excellent choice as T20I captain and that removing him was unjust.

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“Shaheen Afridi has the ability to lead the team and is highly liked by the players. He is an excellent choice for captaincy in T20s. In white-ball cricket, I don't see anyone else suitable for the role. Removing him from the captaincy was unjust,” Moin was quoted as saying by India Today.

Moin wants one captain for all formats

Moin wants the passing of the captaincy baton should stop and wants the PCB to appoint someone for all three formats. He noted that if there’s a constant change in captaincy or if there are multiple captains, the players may not feel secure. He wants PCB to give the captain a long-term assurance for the team to perform better.

“Players may not listen to their captain if there are constant changes. If the cricket board provides full support to the captain and assures them of a long-term responsibility, the team's performance will improve,” he added.

Notably, under Shaheen, Lahore Qalandars won the Pakistan Super League in back-to-back years. He is currently leading the Lions in the domestic Champions One Day Cup, where his team suffered a heavy 133-run defeat against the Stallions.