'Babar Azam's respect would have increased if...': Shahid Afridi after Pakistan's exit from T20 World Cup

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Babar Azam would have risen in stature had he asked PCB to allow Shaheen Afridi as Pakistan captain for the T20 World Cup 2024, former captain Shahid Afridi reckoned on his YouTube channel.

The comment from the former Pakistan and father-in-law of Shaheen Afridi came out Pakistan crashed out of the T20 World Cup 2024 even before making it to the Super 8 round.

Pakistan lost their opening match against USA before going down against arch-rivals India in New York on June 9. Pakistan defeated Canada in their third match but USA qualified for the Super 8 ahead of them with five points in four games. Their match against Ireland on Friday was abandoned due to rain.

“If the move regarding Shaheen’s captaincy had been made and the PCB stated that he would remain the captain till the T20 World Cup, then I think Babar should have supported Shaheen there and should have said that 'no’, if you have made him the captain, then we are ready to play under his captaincy because Shaheen has been playing with me for a long time," Afridi said on his YouTube channel.

"If he is made captain and the selection committee has made him the captain, I will support him and play under his captaincy. This is the stance Babar should’ve taken,” he added.

Shahid Afridi also reckoned that even the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) selection committee members have gone on record to criticise Babar Azam's captaincy.

"Babar’s respect would’ve increased greatly that he has set an example with a remarkable decision. But this was not entirely the fault of Babar because some of the blame lies with the selection committee too since some of the selectors on record said that Babar doesn’t know how to do captaincy," Shahid Afridi said.

Babar Azam stepped down from captaincy after Pakistan's early exit in the ODI World Cup 2023. However, he returned to lead the team just months ahead of the T20 World Cup 2024.