Selection committee decides not to appoint anyone as vice-captain

PCB, in a statement, says no offer was made to any player to become skipper Babar Azam's deputy

By
Faizan Lakhani
Selection committee decides not to appoint anyone as vice-captain
An undated image of the Pakistan Cricket Board Headquarters building in Lahore. — AFP
  • PCB says no offer was made to anyone.
  • Shaheen turns down vice-captaincy offer. 
  • Babar was reinstated as captain in March. 

KARACHI: The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) has confirmed that the selection committee has decided not to appoint a vice-captain of the Green Shirts.

PCB’s response came after it was revealed that pacer Shaheen Shah Afridi wasn’t interested in taking up the role of vice-captain that was offered to him a day earlier. 

“During Friday’s selection committee meeting, discussions on vice-captaincy took place. However, it was unanimously decided not to appoint anyone,” said the PCB statement.

“As such no offer was made to anyone,” the statement added.

A day earlier, multiple sources claimed that selectors had approached Shaheen, asking if he would be interested in the role of vice-captain. However, the discussion couldn’t proceed further after the pacer expressed no interest.

Sources close to Shaheen confirmed that the selection committee had offered the pacer to become the team's vice-captain and skipper Babar Azam's second-in-command, which he refused to accept.

The development came after the board, in March, reinstated Babar as the white-ball captain, replacing Shaheen, after the newly formed selection committee's recommendation to change the skipper.

Under Zaka Ashraf, the cricket body had appointed the fast-bowler as the white-ball captain following the team's drubbing in the ICC World Cup 2023.