Lahore Qalandars appointed on Monday Pakistan's premier fast bowler Shaheen Shah Afridi as the new captain of the franchise for the seventh edition of the Pakistan Super League (PSL), Aaj News reported.

Atif Rana, CEO of the franchise, made the announcement while addressing a press conference in Lahore. He was flanked by head coach Aqib Javed and the newly-appointed captain Shaheen Afridi.

The 21-year-old pacer will replace Sohail Akhtar who led the franchise in the previous edition of the league.

“Lahore Qalandars is not a team but a family for me. Captaincy of Lahore Qalandars in PSL7 will be an honour. I'll try to live up to the expectations and prove well that a fast bowler can be a good choice for the captaincy,” Shaheen said while addressing the presser.

Babar Azam to lead Karachi Kings in PSL 7

Meanwhile, coach Aqib Javed said he would remain focused on grooming the star pacer.

“My priority is always to polish and see a young cricketer improving his career towards betterment. Never saw any cricketer groom so well and quickly with the skills as Shaheen Afridi,” said Javed when asked about the thought process behind bringing in a young captain.

Lahore Qalandars had appointed Shaheen as the vice-captain in the previous edition of the PSL with an aim to groom him as the future leader of the side.

The left-arm quick joined Lahore in the third season of PSL as an emerging player. Since his debut, the fiery left-arm pacer has gone on to represent Pakistan and has become one of the most talked-about fast bowlers in world cricket.

He recently achieved his career-best rankings in Test cricket and became the first Pakistani bowler to be ranked within the top 3 since 2018.

Comments

Comments are closed.