Shahid Afridi to lead Pakistan in ICC World T20, says PCB chief Shahryar Khan

The controversial Pakistan all-rounder Shahid Afridi’s sinking career might just have got a lifeline. The Pakistan Cricket Board chief Shahryar Khan has put an end to all the speculations surrounding the change of captaincy in the Pakistan team by declaring that the board has no plans to remove current skipper Shahid Afridi.

Khan said the all-rounder will remain in charge for the ICC T20 World Cup in India. This came in response to umpteen speculations about Shahid Afridi’s future as the national T20 captain following the team’s abysmal performances in the ongoing Asia Cup 2016.

“I promised Shahid Afridi that he will be retained as Pakistan captain until the end of the World T20,” Khan clarified.

Despite the clarification, there are still enough reasons for Afridi to be worried about. It clearly seems that the throne still has plenty of thorns in it.

During deliberations on the team’s performance, the majority of the Board insiders felt that the all-rounder was not pulling his weight and the speculations were rife that the PCB might ask Afridi to step down himself so that they can appoint Sarfraz Ahmed in his place for the World T20.

Some of the news channels also circulated stories like the Pakistan head coach Waqar Younis losing his cool with Afridi and other players after Pakistan’s defeat to Bangladesh which saw them crash out of the Asia Cup.

It was also reported that Afridi skipped training before the Bangladesh match. But PCB released an audio message of the head coach from Dhaka in which Waqar squashed the rumours and expressed disappointment over the news being aired on some channels.

"I don't know from where these speculative things come up because nothing of this sort happened. These baseless reports only hurt the team, country and us," Waqar said.

Pakistan play their final game against Sri Lanka in the Asia Cup tonight. There is a possibility that Afridi could be rested for the game and keeper Sarfraz Ahmed could lead the side.

Talking about Afridi’s career, it is still hanging by a thread and PCB has just given him a lifeline. However, he cannot be deemed completely out of danger as of now.

Shaharyar Khan blasted team’s performance at Asia Cup

"It wasn't just a matter of disappointment but it was a painful experience to watch Pakistan play like that," Shaharyar told reporters in Lahore.

“The performance was very poor, other then a few individuals' performances, but I can assure that accountability is inevitable and whoever is responsible has to answer. Changes are important in the electoral process and leadership but we have to sit and think wisely."