Lahore
\nLahore Qalandars\u2019 skipper, Shaheen Afridi, has revealed that prior to leading the team, he lacked any experience as a captain at the junior levels. It was the influential advice of former Pakistani captain, Imran Khan, which prompted him to take on the leadership role for the franchise.
\nExpressing his initial disinterest in captaincy, Shaheen recounted a pivotal moment in 2021 when Imran Khan, during a meeting with Lahore Qalandars\u2019 owner Sameen Khan and coach Aqib Javed, suggested appointing him as the captain.
\n\u201cI have not captained at any age level, really, maybe once at Under-19 level,\u201d Shaheen told ESPNcricinfo. \u201cI never even had an interest in captaincy. But then in 2021, I was sitting in the PM office with Sameen bhai [Lahore Qalandars owner] and Aqib Javed, and Imran Khan suggested that I be appointed captain.
\n\u201cObviously, you can never say no to Imran bhai. After that, I became captain of Lahore. I was vice-captain, but when Imran bhai said I should be captain, that\u2019s when the change happened.\u201d
\nAfter guiding Lahore Qalandars to their maiden title in 2022, Shaheen visited Imran Khan to express his gratitude for the faith placed in him.
\n\u201cWhen we won the title in 2022, I went to meet Imran bhai and told him \u2018at least we\u2019ve now won one title!\u2019 And I thanked him at the time for showing faith in me. That\u2019s when my captaincy started, until then I had no interest,\u201d Shaheen said.
\n\u201cImran said most great fast bowlers have been captains because fast bowlers have the authority to set fields and they understand other fast bowlers, concerning what they need and what they\u2019re going through. Those few nuggets of wisdom from him were very valuable to me, and I\u2019d like to give him full credit for it.\u201d
\nIn a span of two years as captain, Shaheen Shah Afridi transformed Lahore Qalandars into a strong contender in the Pakistan Super League (PSL) franchise, aiming to secure their third consecutive title under his leadership in PSL 9.
\nShaheen also opened up about PCB\u2019s decision to terminate Haris Rauf\u2019s central contract just few days prior to PSL.
\n\u201cI don\u2019t have much to say about the PCB\u2019s decision. But the timing is such we have a match in one day and the decision just came through,\u201d Shaheen said \u201cHaris is a mentally strong boy and this won\u2019t affect him hopefully, and perhaps the PCB will also understand making the decision at this time was not correct. Haris is doing fine; he\u2019s always ready to play for Pakistan.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Lahore Lahore Qalandars\u2019 skipper, Shaheen Afridi, has revealed that prior to leading the team, he lacked any experience as a captain at the junior levels. It was the influential advice of former Pakistani captain, Imran Khan, which prompted him to take on the leadership role for the franchise. Expressing his initial disinterest in captaincy, Shaheen […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-387864","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-sports"},"yoast_head":"\n