Fast bowler Shaheen Shah Afridi was selected deputy captain by the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) for the Australia Test series on Wednesday, one month after he was named captain of the men’s national squad for the shortest format of cricket.
Pakistan’s Twenty20 international team turned to the left-arm pacer, one of cricket’s most devastating fast bowlers, when Babar Azam resigned in November. Azam retired from all sports after Pakistan’s World Cup failure last month, where the green shirts finished in the semifinals.
Afridi has played 27 Tests, 53 ODIs, and 52 T20Is for Pakistan. Deputy to Pakistan’s Test skipper Shan Masood, appointed in November.
The Pakistan Cricket Board announced that “short-pitcher Shaheen Shah Afridi has been named vice captain of the Pakistan Test Team for the series against Australia.” “Earlier, Shaheen was named Pakistan Men’s T20 Cricket Team captain.”
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The statement did not clarify if Afridi would continue in that capacity or whether the board would select a new vice captain to take Masood’s place after the Australia series.
Masood’s squad and Australia will play three Benaud-Qadir Trophy matches in Perth on Thursday. Pakistan leads the 2023–25 ICC World Test Championship (WTC) points. Sri Lanka and Pakistan began playing this year. Pakistan ranks sixth in the ICC Men’s Test rankings.
This year marks the start of Australia’s second series in the WTC cycle. Australia now leads the world in test cricket. Australia is rated fifth following their series with England, where they won two, lost two, and drew one game.
Pakistan’s 2019-20 final Test series loss in Australia was sad. The March 2022 Test series in Pakistan saw Australia win three games.
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