LAHORE- Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) has officially announced Shahid Khan Afridi as Twenty20 captain until 2016, while the ODI and Test squad captaincy stays with Misbah-ul-Haq.
The slot remained vacant after M Hafeez resigned from Twenty20 captaincy following the ICC World T20 held in Bangladesh earlier this year. Afridi was then reappointed as T20 captain on Tuesday three years after he was removed following a fall out with coach Waqar Younis and the cricket board.
"Afridi has been announced as captain of the Pakistan T20 squad till the ICC World Twenty20 in India in 2016," the PCB spokesman told this scribe.
He also said that it would retain Misbahul Haq as captain of the Test and one-day teams till next year's ICC World Cup amid speculation he could be sacked following a disastrous tour of Sri Lanka where they lost both Tests and the three-match one-day series 2-1.
Afridi's first assignment will be a lone T20 game against Australia in Dubai on October 5 followed by two more games against New Zealand in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) in December. Afridi led Pakistan in 19 T20 matches in his first stint, winning eight and losing 11. Pakistan will also play three one-dayers and two Tests against Australia.
"In line with my policy of taking decisions democratically I consulted the Cricket Committee and my board members before announcing these decisions," PCB chairman Shaharyar Khan said. "I wish both Afridi and Misbah very good luck in their upcoming assignments."
Afridi's previous stint as captain ended on a bad note in May 2011. He had a public falling-out with the coach Waqar Younis, who was also in his first term at the time, and an outburst against the then PCB chairman Ijaz Butt. The PCB issued him a showcause notice for the breach of discipline and stripped him off the captaincy thereafter.
Afridi said he was looking forward to a new beginning under Waqar, who himself was re-appointed coach in May, his second stint in the job. "Whatever happened is in the past now. I have started a new beginning with Waqar.”
The board also excluded him from the list of contracted players and refused to issue no-objection certificates (NOC) to allow Afridi to play in domestic Twenty20 leagues. Afridi, however, took the matter to court and both sides eventually came to an agreement: Afridi pleaded guilty to misconduct and paid a fine of Rupees 4.5 million, and the PCB allowed him to play domestic Twenty20 cricket in England.
Afridi then announced a conditional retirement, saying he would return if there were changes in the PCB and the team management. He made himself available for selection again in October 2011, after Waqar quit as national coach and Zaka Ashraf replaced Butt as PCB chairman. "I will do my best to give better results and develop fighting spirits in the players. This game is not for chicken-hearted, so we have to remove the fear of failure from the players' minds," Afridi concluded.