NEW DELHI: After Babar Azam's departure from captaincy in all three formats in November, Pakistan named Shaheen Shah Afridi as their new T20I captain and Shan Masood as their Test captain. Former Pakistan skipper and dynamic batsman Shahid Afridi expressed his inclination towards wicketkeeper-batter Rizwan over left-arm fast bowler Shaheen for the T20I leadership.
Afridi praised Rizwan as a resilient individual, advocating him as the ideal candidate to steer Pakistan in the quick-paced format of the game.
“[I admire Rizwan's] hardwork and focus level. His best quality, which I like most, is only focusing on his game and paying no heed to who doing what and what not. He is really a fighter!” Afridi said.
1/10:Cricket records broken in 2023
Getty Images
2/10:Most ODI centuries
<p>Run-machine Virat Kohli (50) broke legendary Sachin Tendulkar's (49) record for most hundreds ever in ODIs. Kohli broke the record during the ODI World Cup semi-final against New Zealand at the Wankhede in front of the Master Blaster himself. <br /></p>Getty Images
3/10:Fastest T20I fifty
<p>Nepal’s Dipendra Singh Airee shattered the record books during Asian Games, breaking Yuvraj Singh's 16-year-old record as he smashed a once-in-a-lifetime nine-ball fifty against Mongolia. <br /></p>Getty Images
4/10:First ODI double ton in chase
<p>In one of the greatest ODI chases ever, Australia's swashbuckling Glenn Maxwell smashed an unbeaten 201 -- scoring the first-ever double century in a chase -- to single-handedly down Afghanistan<br /></p>Getty Images
5/10:First 300 in men’s T20s
<p>In the Asian Games clash against Mongolia, Nepal hit 314 for 3 to become the first team in men’s T20 history to post a 300+ team total. Nepal broke Afghanistan's (278/3) and Czech Republic (278/4) record totals with their stupendous effort. <br /></p>Getty Images
6/10:Historic List A ton
<p>Jake Fraser-McGurk blasted a world-record 29-ball century in the Marsh One-Day Cup -- the fastest white-ball ton ever scored -- against Tasmania. Jake broke AB de Villiers’ record of a 31-ball 100 to rewrite record books. <br /></p>Agencies
7/10:Fastest 50 by an Indian
<p>Railways Ashutosh Sharma also broke Yuvraj Singh's record for fastest T20 fifty by an Indian, hitting an 11-ball 50 against Arunachal Pradesh.<br /></p>Agencies
8/10:First 400 in women’s T20Is
<p>Argentina women's team shattered record books by scoring a jaw-dropping 427 for one in a T20I against Chile women to register the first-ever 400-plus score. <br /></p>Getty Images
9/10:Most runs in single World Cup edition
<p>India lost the World Cup final against Australia but phenomenal Virat Kohli ended the tournament with most runs ever scored in a single edition of the tournament. Kohli (765 runs) surpassed Sachin Tendulkar (673 runs in 2003) to clinch the record.<br /></p>PTI
10/10:Most sixes in international cricket
<p>India opener Rohit Sharma broke the record for the most international sixes across formats, going past Chris Gayle’s tally (553) during the ODI World Cup. Rohit ended the year with 582 maximums and is on course to become first batter to breach the 600-mark.<br /></p>Getty Images“I want to see him [Rizwan] as the T20 captain but mistakenly, Shaheen became the skipper,” Afridi was quoted as saying by GeoTV.
Pakistan are currently playing Test series in Australia.
Australia lead the three-match series 2-0, and Pakistan have lost 16 successive Tests in Australia.
The third and final Test of the series will be played at the Sydney Cricket Ground from January 3.
