Afridi gets T20 captaincy

KARACHI: Pakistan on Wednesday named their World Twenty20 championship hero Shahid Afridi as captain for the one-off T20 International against Sri Lanka in Colombo on August 12.Though the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) announced that its chairman Ijaz Butt “has appointed Shahid Afridi as captain for the Twenty20 International against Sri Lanka”, the senior allrounder is set to lead the Greenshirts in their title defence in the West Indies next year.The 29-year-old confirmed that Butt has assured him Twenty20 captaincy till the April 30-May 16 spectacle in the Caribbean, saying that he would try his best to make it two in a row for Pakistan.“I’m proud to get this honour,” Afridi said from Dambulla where Pakistan were preparing for their one-day series opener against Sri Lanka on Thursday (today).Afridi replaces regular skipper Younis Khan as the Twenty20 captain. Younis announced his retirement from the slam-bang version of the game after spearheading Pakistan to a title-winning triumph at Lord’s on June 22.Just days later, Butt announced that he would try and convince Younis to change his mind about quitting Twenty20 cricket but apparently his efforts failed.Younis will continue as Pakistan’s regular captain for Tests and One-day Internationals.“Younis is a very good captain and everybody is supporting him,” said Afridi.Afridi, who made his international debut as a 16-year-old in 1996, is one of Pakistan’s senior most players but has never captained the country in any format of the game.He was always floated as a captaincy candidate in recent years but was never actually selected till now. This time, however, the PCB has chosen him ahead of vice-captain Misbah-ul-Haq, to lead Pakistan in the Twenty20 format.It was his heroics in back-to-back World Twenty20 editions in South Africa and England that prompted the authorities to give him the responsibility. Afridi was the man of the tournament when Pakistan reached the final of the inaugural World Twenty20 in 2007 where it lost to old-rivals India. He narrowly missed that prize in England last month but was the man of the match in the semifinal and final against South Africa and Sri Lanka.The flamboyant cricketer said that captaincy is unlikely to affect his performance.“My focus will remain on giving my best for the team and hopefully I will carry on from where I left in the Twenty world cup,” he said.Afridi, who has played 26 Tests, 273 One-day Internationals and has appeared in all 23 Twenty20 Internationals, opted out of the three-match Test series against Sri Lanka but is now back in the 16-man touring party for the one-day series against Sri Lanka.It will be the first time Afridi will lead the national team in any format of the game, getting his chance nearly 13 years after making his Pakistan debut. He has plenty of captaincy experience at the domestic level, having led Habib Bank Limited (HBL), Sindh and Karachi Dolphins over the past few years.“Captaining Pakistan shouldn’t be a problem for me,” he said. “I’m confident that the team will give its best.”Afridi is already eyeing a second World Twenty20 title in the Caribbean. Pakistan will begin the defence of their title against fellow Asian Test nation Bangladesh in St Lucia on May 1.The 2010 World Twenty20 championship comes just ten months after Pakistan lifted the crown at Lord’s after the International Cricket Council (ICC) was forced to make some adjustments to the cricket calendar because of the postponement of the ICC Champions Trophy.