T20 World Cup 2024: Shaheen Shah Afridi rejected vice-captaincy despite PCB’s request - Reports

Pakistan speedster Shaheen Shah Afridi reportedly refused to be the vice-captain of the national side for the upcoming T20 World Cup in the USA and West Indies. On Friday (May 24), the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) announced its squad for the marquee event which will be led by Babar Azam. Afridi, who was stripped of the captaincy in the T20 format, however, was reportedly approached by the PCB to take the deputy role during the T20 World Cup.

Afridi rejected deputy role

According to a report by Espncricinfo, Afridi quickly turned down the offer to become the vice-captain. He was unhappy with the manner in which he was stripped of the captaincy role while there was no concrete explanation given by the PCB. The 24-year-old was handed Pakistan’s T20 captaincy after the ODI World Cup when Babar Azam resigned from his role. However, a 4-1 series defeat to New Zealand and a poor Pakistan Super League (PSL) campaign as captain, saw PCB strip Afridi off the captain’s role.

While the action did not go well with the pacer, PCB tried to convince Afridi to take the vice-captaincy role. However, Afridi was determined to not take the role which therefore resulted in Pakistan announcing the 15-man squad without a designated vice-captain.

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On Friday, the selection committee meeting attended by new white-ball coach Gary Kirsten along with Abdul Razzaq, Asad Shafiq, Babar Azam, Bilal Afzal, Mohammad Yousuf and Wahab Riaz announced the squad four hours before the deadline. The 15-man squad sees the return of Mohammad Amir and Imad Wasim with the former playing his first T20 World Cup since 2016.

Pakistan will start their T20 World Cup campaign against co-hosts USA on Thursday (June 6) before taking on India in a high-voltage clash on June 9 in New York. Pakistan will then face Canada and Ireland to round off the first group-stage campaign.

Pakistan's Squad for T20 World Cup 2024

Babar Azam (captain), Abrar Ahmed, Azam Khan, Fakhar Zaman, Haris Rauf, Iftikhar Ahmed, Imad Wasim, Mohammad Abbas Afridi, Mohammad Amir, Mohammad Rizwan, Naseem Shah, Saim Ayub, Shadab Khan, Shaheen Shah Afridi, Usman Khan