Newly appointed captain Shaheen Shah Afridi backed Babar Azam ahead of Pakistan’s three-match ODI series against South Africa after the former captain helped the Green Shirts seal the T20 International series.
On Saturday, Babar showed his mastery with the bat after Shaheen led a sparkling bowling performance from Pakistan as the hosts cruised to a four-wicket victory over South Africa in the series-deciding third T20I.
The ODI series will be held at Iqbal Stadium in Faisalabad from November 4-8, after which Pakistan play another three-match ODI series against Sri Lanka at the Rawalpindi Cricket Stadium from Nov 11-15.
Speaking at a pre-match press conference , Shaheen threw his full support behind Babar.
“Every cricketer struggles, there are maybe a few who perform consistently. Babar must have realised in his last innings that he’s back in form,” Shaheen said. “He’s not a bad player just because he performed poorly in a few matches.”
Shaheen went on to heap praise for the 31-year-old, who regained form after a brief slump and became highest T20I-run scorer during the second match.
“He has been performing for Pakistan for the past four, five years and is the top T20 [run] scorer. He has the ability to play big innings, and the other players also have the ability to score runs and help win the match.”
Shaheen said it was an “honour” to represent Pakistan as a captain, just as it was when he was a player, though the role of captain came with added responsibilities. His first stint as T20I captain ended after a 4-1 defeat in New Zealand last year.
