Shahid Afridi Knocks Next PAK Potential Captain after T20 WC 2026 Exit

Former captain of Pakistan’s national cricket team Shahid Afridi expressed his doubt over the potential selection of the squad’s next captain. The retired cricketer believes players shortlisted to take the team’s captaincy at future T20Is are not ideal to lead during this current phase.

Shadab Doesn’t Deserve Captaincy or a Place in Playing XI, Afridi Knocks Potential PAK Skipper

Reports suggest that Salman Ali Agha will not continue as Pakistan’s T20I captain after failing to lead the side to a much-desired T20 WC crown. Afridi believes the alternative, Shadab Khan, should not even have a place in Pakistan’s future playing XI:

“If Mike Hesson stays on as the coach, he was also there at Islamabad United in the Pakistan Super League. Mike Hesson became Pakistan’s coach after his stint in the PSL. From there, his association with Shadab started,” Afridi said. “The head coach is giving Shadab chance after chance. That’s why I said Shadab can become the next Pakistan captain. But looking at his recent performance, he doesn’t even deserve a place in the playing XI,” Afridi said during a recent interview.

Afridi Rips Apart Son-in-Law’s Performance at T20 WC 2026

The veteran cricketer’s daughter is married to Green Shirts pacer Shaheen Shah Afridi, and his son-in-law was part of Pakistan’s T20 WC 2026 contingent.

Some analysts would expect Shahid to take a measured approach towards critiquing his son-in-law’s performance at the T20 WC 2026. However, Shahid directed sharp criticism at the pacer while outlining his repeat errors and how Shaheen’s mistakes continue to happen:

“He (Shaheen Afridi) has been playing for some time now. You don’t know from where you have to bowl the last over. He has been told many times; he should know these things by now. He has been repeating his old mistakes again and again,” the retired cricketer said.

PAK Players Don’t Learn, Afridi Lambasts Underperforming Side

Shahid believes that Pakistan T20I cricketers do not have their act together and do not seek to lean towards advice from top analysts. Afridi believes the squad’s reluctance to learn is a major reason behind difficulties they continue to experience in short-format cricket and other variations of the game:

“When a right-hander is batting, you can’t bowl from round the wicket. If one still wants to bowl from that angle, a left-armer has to bowl at the stumps. When the third-man and point fielders are inside the circle, you can’t bowl wide yorkers. This angle becomes an easy one for batters to hit on Asian pitches. If you had bowled from over the wicket, it would have been difficult for batters to hit a six. I don’t know when these guys will learn. They don’t learn, nor do they want to learn,” the former cricketer concluded.

Pakistan Full T20 WC 2026 Squad

Batters: Babar Azam, Fakhar Zaman

All-rounders: Salman Ali Agha, Saim Ayub, Faheem Ashraf, Mohammad Nawaz, Shadab Khan

Wicket-keepers: Khawaja Mohammad Nafay, Sahibzada Farhan, Usman Khan

Bowlers: Abrar Ahmed, Naseem Shah, Shaheen Shah Afridi, Usman Tariq, Salman Mirza

Pakistan Results at T20 WC 2026

Pakistan secured four victories out of six games at the T20 WC 2026. The squad’s poor net run rate is behind their exit from this edition, as they failed to restrict Sri Lanka to 147 runs during a Super 8 Group 2 clash.

Pakistan Record at T20 WCs (2007 – 2026)