Former Pakistan captain Shahid Afridi has expressed his preference for wicketkeeper-batter Mohammad Rizwan to lead the Pakistan T20I side. Following Babar Azam's resignation from captaincy in all three formats in November, Shaheen Shah Afridi was appointed as the new T20I captain, and Shan Masood was named the skipper in Tests.
Afridi praised Rizwan for his hard work, focus, and resilience, hailing him as a fighter on the field. According to Afridi, Rizwan's ability to concentrate solely on his game without getting distracted by external factors makes him an ideal candidate for the T20I leadership role.
“[I admire Rizwan's] hardwork and focus level. His best quality, which I like most, is only focusing on his game and paying no heed to who doing what and what not. He is really a fighter!” Afridi said.
Despite Shaheen Shah Afridi being named the T20I captain, Shahid Afridi expressed a personal inclination towards Rizwan and suggested that he would like to see Rizwan as the captain of the T20I team.
“I want to see him [Rizwan] as the T20 captain but mistakenly, Shaheen became the skipper,” Afridi was quoted as saying by GeoTV.
The comments come amid Pakistan's ongoing Test series in Australia, where they are trailing 2-0. The third and final Test of the series is scheduled to be played at the Sydney Cricket Ground from January 3.