Shahid Afridi steps down as Twenty20 captain

Dunya News

The skipper said that he would continue to serve Pakistan team as a player.

KARACHI (Dunya News / AFP) – Shahid Afridi on Sunday announced he has stepped down as captain in the game s shortest format following Pakistan’s early exit from the World Twenty20 tournament

In a statement, Afridi has thanked the cricket fans for all the love and appreciation which they gave him. He said that it was of great honor that he had performed in all the three formats of cricket.

He further expressed gratitude over the encouragement he had received from Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) chief Shahryar Khan and said that he would continue to serve Pakistan team as a player.

“I never thought I’d be on this level and play cricket for Pakistan team,” he added.

The decision came after fact-finding committee completed its investigation into Pakistan’s dismissal performance in Asia Cup and World Twenty20.

Fact-finding committee had also suggested to pick star player Sarfraz Ahmad as new T20 captain but the announcement can face delay.

Earlier, Afridi recorded his stance via telephone as he was unable to present before the investigating team due to his daughter’s illness.

The former captain admitted poor performance in WT20.

“Players fully cooperated in WT20 while team meetings were not held without me”, said Afridi.

PCB had announced in September 2014 that all-rounder Shahid Afridi was going to lead the national team in the shortest format of the game — Twenty20.

Pakistan were knocked out of the World T20 2016 after failing to qualify for the semi-finals as they lost three out of their four group matches.

They only managed to win two matches in the Asia Cup 2016.