'Wo Hamara kaptaan hai or rahe ga' - Shaheen Afridi supports Babar Azam amid captaincy criticisms

Pakistan faced a disappointing 0-3 loss against visiting side England, in their home Test series. England completely dominated the games, from start to end. They won the first game on a flat Rawalpindi pitch and defeated Pakistan by 74 runs. England then went on to win the second game at Multan by 26 runs and the third and final Test at Karachi by eight wickets.

Pakistan have now lost four Tests at home this year, which has put their World Test Championship chances in jeopardy. Babar Azam, the captain of Pakistan, was spot-on with the bat, scoring 348 runs from six innings, including a century and three half-centuries. But after the disappointing outcome, his captaincy came under scrutiny yet again.

While many have been criticizing Babar for his captaincy, his team’s ace pacer Shaheen Afridi, who was out of the entire Test series owing to his injury, was very much supportive of his skipper. Shaheen posted a brief tweet wherein he praised Babar and appealed to his followers to treat him with the respect and dignity that he deserves, as he wrote:

“Babar Azam hamari or Pakistan ki Shan, jaan or pehchan hai. Wo Hamara kaptaan hai or rahe ga. Kuch or #sochnabhimanah hai. Please support this team. Yahi team hame jitaye gi bhi. Kahani abhi Khatam nahi howi. #Respect.” (Babar Azam is our team’s and Pakistan’s pride, power, and identity. He is our captain and will remain so. Don't even think otherwise. This very team will help us win as well. The story isn't over yet).

Pakistan's WTC Final dream might remain a dream this season

Pakistan are currently ranked seventh in the WTC rankings following their most recent series defeat. While Australia and India currently occupy the first and second spots respectively, England rose to fifth place after their historic win against Pakistan.

Shaheen, on the other hand, will continue to be out of the national setup for a few more months. He suffered an injury to his knee before the Asia Cup 2022 and missed the entire tournament. He returned fit for the T20 World Cup 2022, where Pakistan made it to the finals. But Shaheen pulled off another injury during the summit clash and has been sidelined ever since.