Was Shaheen Shah Afridi given the Pakistan T20 captaincy too soon?

[BouncerGuy]

After the 50-over World Cup in 2023, Babar Azam stepped down as captain for all formats. Shan Masood took over for Tests. Before the five-match T20I series against New Zealand in January, Shaheen Shah Afridi became Pakistan’s new T20 captain.

Despite losing the first four T20Is, Pakistan won the final match, ending their long losing streak. But overall, the team struggled for months.

Now Shaheen has been the Captain of Lahore Qalandars for a few seasons and won 2 back to back Seasons of PSL as well. But this time, in PSL 9, he looks totally off-color. His captaincy looked flawed as well, decision were not made according to the situation.

Was it the right decision to promote Shaheen as the captain or should he have been groomed more before taking this step. Please vote and share your thoughts about it.

 

[Rana]

Babar had to go.

Imad should have been the white ball captain

 

[BouncerGuy]

Imad should have been the white ball captain

Based on the current form? Imad will not even find a spot in any domestic team.

 

[Rana]

Based on the current form? Imad will not even find a spot in any domestic team.

At the time when Babar was removed, Imad was 100% going to play for Pakistan.

 

[BouncerGuy]

At the time when Babar was removed, Imad was 100% going to play for Pakistan.

Now that he is nowhere near the team, Shaheen has been the captain but his overall performance has been mediocre. PSL that he won was not all because of him doing a fantastic job, he won because he had a team having world-class spinner and an all-rounder who clicked at the right time for them, David wiese.

His captaincy has been exposed badly.

 

[FearlessRoar]

According to reports, Shaheen will be removed as Pakistan's T20I captain soon. Mohsin Naqvi is not happy with him.

 

[160KPH]

Rizwan should pretty clearly be the captain, although I’ve heard good things about Shaheen’s captaincy in PSL.

 

[PakEngFan]

Babar had to go.

Imad should have been the white ball captain

Yeah by scoring 1 run of 4 balls and giving away 15 in 1 over. Can't think of any better.

 

[Rana]

Yeah by scoring 1 run of 4 balls and giving away 15 in 1 over. Can't think of any better.

Keep kicking a man when he is down. Don’t worry, I’ll keep kicking the ones who are supposedly on top

 

[Concerned]

Shaheen the +140 KPH bowler who was able to swing the bowl and take top order wickets deserved captaincy. He was world class and deserved every success.

The current stuttering Shaheen does not.

 

[PakEngFan]

Keep kicking a man when he is down. Don’t worry, I’ll keep kicking the ones who are supposedly on top

When was he ever up? I just stated a fact. Looking forward to his 1 run off 4 balls today and 15 in an over.

 

[Croma]

Rizwan should be made captain. He is undroppable anyways.

 

[CerebralPatriot]

It wasn't too soon, it was just a wrong decision period. Shaheen does not have the cricketing mind nor leadership skilsl required to be a decent captain. In all fairness no one in the current LO setup does

If the rumours are true that Mohsin Naqvi is looking to replace Shaheen then it must be either Imad, Saud or Sarfraz. Maybe Shan but just by the fact that he choose to drop Sarfraz after one poor test shows he's in the same clique as the dosti yaari group

 

[Cpt. Rishwat]

It wasn't too soon, it was just a wrong decision period. Shaheen does not have the cricketing mind nor leadership skilsl required to be a decent captain. In all fairness no one in the current LO setup does

This. One only has to look at the stupidity he displays on invoking the DRS when bowlers (including himself) make ludicrous appeals, often on deliveries which would miss another set of stumps.

He has pace and natural swing ability as a bowler, but even in that field he lacks brains. He struggles to bowl one side of the wicket, and usually bowls to a batsman without a plan. He was never captaincy material.

 

[shaz619]

Shaheen apparently has four years to prove himself - if he lasts that long, we’d be lucky he has all four working limbs

 

[Cricket Warrior]

there is a perception that if a player is good he can also excel in captaincy but here Shaheen proved them wrong.

Captaincy comes with experience not with skills.

its better for shaheen now to leave the captaincy and conentrate on his game else he will keep declining.

 

[moghul]

Shaheen is not a captaincy material , does't look like a very intelligent person. Under current situation , give it to Rizwan and even giving back to Babar would not be a bad decision , although Babar is not a good captain , but anyone would do a better job than Shaheen.

 

[FearlessRoar]

Former Pakistan Captain Shahid Afridi speaks in support of Shaheen Shah Afridi during a program on a local media outlet:

"Now, as the Pakistan team is, Shaheen is captaining it, and along with him, there's Rizwan and Babar, all of whom have played international cricket. Players with seniority who have been seen with Shaheen, especially with the combination of Weise and Rashid in the last two years, were much more cohesive in every decision. Here, I can see that even mid-on, Shaheen is running, and at covers, Shaheen is standing. So, I think Shaheen needs and should have support, and every captain needs the support of seniors. The way Multan Sultans' team has gelled is enjoyable to watch them on the ground."

 

[topspin]

He’s got the wrong mentor. Shahid Afridi was a poor captain himself and the less said about cricketing mind the better.

I’m not gonna write Shaheen off yet because he’s had some success with LQ, as we witnessed last year when they won the PSL. He actually made good bowling changes, particularly after the group stages.

The other problem that Shaheen has, like his mentor, he loses his composure very easily when things don’t go his way.

 

[Mamoon]

Babar had to go.

Imad should have been the white ball captain

Pakistan already has a rubbish cricketer captaining the Test team. Why would you want to repeat the same mistake in white ball cricket?

 

[Mamoon]

He’s got the wrong mentor. Shahid Afridi was a poor captain himself and the less said about cricketing mind the better.

I’m not gonna write Shaheen off yet because he’s had some success with LQ, as we witnessed last year when they won the PSL. He actually made good bowling changes, particularly after the group stages.

The other problem that Shaheen has, like his mentor, he loses his composure very easily when things don’t go his way.

I love such expert analysis and hot takes.

So Shahid Afridi was a good mentor for Shaheen when he led LQ to back to back PSL titles?

 

[Swashbuckler]

Shouldn't be replaced now, especially after how Shaheen was rested in SCG test for the NZ T20Is. That sacrifice will go in vain if he is removed from captaincy now, Sydney was a massive massive opportunity for Pak to win a test down under.

Best of luck to the lad, more pressure on him because of how good Pakistan team was in previous two T20 world cups. But I think it was the right call, Babar needs to focus only on his batting, Rizwan is better suited to lead in ODIs.

 

[Human786]

Sasur ne dilwayi hai - mubarak ho , sabko mubarak ho

 

[Snowflake]

Rewarding Shaheen with captaincy after a horrendous WC performance was ridiculous!

A msg should have been sent that fitness and performance are still paramount.

Shaheen has totally fallen off the rails recently. His fitness isn’t there, pace has dropped, swing has vanished…

He should be stripped of captaincy until he regains his lost form. Also, he is starting to look quite daft too… the recent statements like “no worries if he get KO’d early this season… we’ve won twice” and on the NZ tour “our religion tells us that there’s comfort after difficult”… his cricketing sense was probably overestimated

 

[The Bald Eagle]

I dont think so, may be SSA has just lost the way of late. In LQ he had seniors like Wiese to consult to, so may be missing some good advice from others in this tough patch.

 

[Cricket Warrior]

Yes, now the management must be realizing how they will go in the upcoming T20 World Cup with a captain like Shaheen Afridi.

 

[The Bald Eagle]

If SSA fails again today then he would prove his critics right. Rizwan Captaincy loading...

 

[The Bald Eagle]

I dont think so, may be SSA has just lost the way of late. In LQ he had seniors like Wiese to consult to, so may be missing some good advice from others in this tough patch

I am vindicated today.

 

[FearlessRoar]

Former Pakistan bowler and Lahore Qalandars head coach defended Shaheen as Pakistan's T20I captain while speaking to local media:

"I have a problem; when will we move away from the mindset of 4 matches, 5 matches? When you made [Shaheen Shah Afridi] the captain, it was after 2 years of his performance. Obviously, for any player or captain, the platform in T20 cricket is the PSL. They want to see some magic through someone's personality! This is a process, and now the PCB is also going through the same. There is one chairman for 2 months, the coach, or the selector are constantly changing, until you don't set it right, you will keep going lower and lower, no matter whatever you do."