"I always tried to keep Shaheen away from captaincy," says Afridi

Reacting to the recent change in the national team's leadership, Former Pakistan captain Shahid Afridi said that he had always advised his son-in-law and star pacer Shaheen Shah Afridi to keep himself away from the skipper role.

On March 31, the Pakistan Cricket Board (BCP) replaced Shaheen with Babar as captain of the white-ball format.

The 29-year-old star player will lead the team in One-Day Internationals (ODIs) and T20Is while Shan Masood will continue as the red-ball skipper.

Following the change, the 47-year-old cricketer advised Shaheen to focus on his cricket.

"When Shaheen was offered the captaincy of Lahore Qalandars, I advised him to stay away," Afridi added.

"Shaheen didn't pay attention to my advise," Afridi said, adding that he also suggested the cricket body to retain Babar Azam as Test captain.

Talking about his opinion on appointing Mohammad Rizwan as white-ball captain, Afridi said that he had also presented his thoughts in front of former PCB Chairman Zaka Ashraf.

Earlier, the ex-skipper took to social media to make a bold call about Babar Azam's return as captain, saying he was surprised by the selection committee's decision.

"I am surprised by the decision by very experienced cricketers in the selection committee. I still believe that if change was necessary than Rizwan was the best choice! But since now the decision has been made I offer my full support and best wishes to team Pakistan and Babar Azam," he said in his post on the microblogging site X.