• Source:JND
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The captaincy shuffle in the Pakistan team has become a serious discussion point in the past few months. After the humiliating ODI World Cup 2023 campaign, Babar Azam stepped down from the captaincy of Pakistan from across all formats after Babar Shaheen Afridi was named the captain of the team in the T20I format and Shan Masood took over the Test format duties.

However, the start of Shaheen's captaincy went downhill as under him Pakistan suffered a 4-1 series defeat to New Zealand ahead of the marquee T20 World Cup held in the USA and West Indies. After the series loss, the pacer was stripped of his role, with Babar being retaking the as white-ball captain.

Former Pakistan wicketkeeper-batter Moin Khan stated that releasing Shaheen as T20I captain was unfair and he should have been given more period.

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"Shaheen Afridi has the ability to lead the team and is highly liked by the players. He is an excellent choice for captaincy in T20s. In white-ball cricket, I don't see anyone else suitable for the role. Removing him from the captaincy was unjust. He is one of the best T20 players, and I've noticed his performance has slightly declined since he was removed from the captaincy. How can you expect good performance if you don't give players confidence? They should be given some time as captain," Moin told Cricket Pakistan.

Some media reports have asserted that there might be a big change in Pakistan's captaincy again as Babar could be replaced by wicketkeeper-batter Mohammad Rizwan as the white-ball captain.

"A single captain can be appointed for all formats of cricket, but it's crucial for any player to perform across all formats to achieve this. Whoever becomes captain should have the responsibility for a long term. There is no doubt about Mohammad Rizwan's abilities; any criticism against him might be due to his age. It's also important to consider how long he can represent the team if given leadership. Mohammad Rizwan could be a great short-term captain, but you would need to groom a young cricketer to take over in the future. We often appoint captains but fail to prepare a suitable deputy," Moin, who was also a part of the 1992 ODI World Cup-winning team, said.