Accepted captaincy after Rizwan said he would step down: Shaheen

Rawalpindi, Nov 11 (PTI) In an interesting revelation, Pakistan's ODI captain Shaheen Shah Afridi has claimed that he only accepted the captaincy after his predecessor Mohammad Rizwan said he would step down.

"I took this responsibility from the Pakistan Cricket Board after discussing the matter with Rizwan," Shaheen told the media on Monday.

"Rizwan was the only person I had a discussion with and I asked him how he felt about me accepting the captaincy.

"Rizwan decided himself he would make way for me and that is how things worked out," said Shaheen, who was also appointed national T20 skipper in 2023 but was dismissed after just one series in New Zealand.

Shaheen had taken over as the T20I skipper after Babar Azam resigned following Pakistan's poor run in the Cricket World Cup 2023. However, less than six months after the appointment, Shaheen was removed from the post with Babar being reinstated as the captain.

The left-arm pacer had led in only one T20I series -- a five-game encounter against New Zealand away from home -- in this period.

Shaheen said Rizwan had assured him of full support. He added that as captain he would back Babar and Rizwan as they were key players in the side with lots of experience.

"I have no ego and I talk to everyone for advice, even our former captains. I don't look at things that happened in the past," he said.

"Everyone has to take responsibility if you want to improve as a team," the 25-year-old said, adding, "You can't keep on saying Babar, Rizwan or Fakhar will do it, it is as a team we have to click and take responsibility.

"As far as Rizwan is concerned, he is Pakistan's top-scorer in one-dayers since 2023. We are trying to back players who are not in form so that they can do well in future matches.

"Babar can falter in one or two matches but he is in good touch and I hope he will score a hundred soon," he said.

Shaheen said that while the PCB had not given him a specific time frame for captaincy, he was looking forward to leading the side in the 2027 World Cup. PTI AM Cor AM AM AM