22 June,2009 02:16 PM IST | | PTI
Flamboyant all-rounder Shahid Afridi, who after guiding Pakistan to the Twenty20 World Cup title in yesterday's final expressed willingness to lead the national team at least once before calling it quits, may soon get the opportunity.
| Pakistani all-rounder Shahid Afridi celebrates after hitting the winning runs in the finals of Twenty20 World Cup against Sri Lanka on Sunday. Pakistan defeated Lanka by eight wickets to lift the trophy. Pic/AFP |
Having regained his sublime touch with the bat and his bowling already being a potent weapon, Afridi is now most likely to succeed Younis as the T20 skipper.
"For the time being Shoaib Malik is ruled out of contention for captaincy at any level and the way Afridi has performed and handled new found responsibilities as a senior player, he is certain to become the Pakistan captain for T20 cricket," one Pakistan Cricket Board official told PTI.
If Afridi comes at the helm of country's T20 squad, his first assignment will be the one-off match against Sri Lanka on August 12 during their tour to the island nation. And indications are that Afridi will also be taking over as Pakistan's ODI captain if Younis decides to play Test matches only.
Younis faced problems because these players were resisting the inclusion of youngster Shahzad Hasan and even Fawad Alam in the playing eleven and didn't want either Butt or Ahmed Shahzad dropped," one source said.
"To complicate matters, Younis was also not getting enough cooperation from coach Intikhab Alam and assistant coach, Aaqib Javed. That was one of the reasons why Pakistan had a poor start to the World Cup and the team looked disjointed," the source added.
It was before Pakistan's crucial do or die match against New Zealand in the Super Eight stage that former Pakistan captain Rashid Latif, who is very close to Younis, advised him to put his foot down and exert authority.
"Rashid advised Younis to change the playing eleven by including Shahzab to open with Akmal, play Fawad Alam regularly and use Afridi at the top order," a source disclosed.
"After this, Younis got very serious and let the coach, assistant coach and other players know that since he was the captain he would take all the decisions on team strategy and the playing eleven."
The source disclosed that Younis was assured full support by Afridi and some other players. "That is why Afridi was sent up the order and took on a new responsibility in the tournament. That Younis also scored runs helped a lot," the source disclosed.
