Pakistan vs Afghanistan: Shadab Khan ready for ‘big responsibility’ after captaincy appointment

The
Pakistan
side
will
be
playing

a
three-match
T20I
series
against
Afghanistan
starting
March
25
at
the
UAE.

And
Shadab
Khan
has
been
appointed
as
the
new
captain
in
the
series
as
several
senior
players
including
captain
Babar
Azam
has
been
rested
for
the
assignment.
Shadab,
who
has
worked
as
a
deputy
of
Babar
Azam
in
Pakistan’s
limited-over
games,
was
ecstatic
after
being
appointed
as
the
captain.

“I
am
grateful
to
the
Almighty
for
this
opportunity.
Representing
your
country
is
an
honour
for
any
cricketer
and
to
lead
it
is
even
a
bigger
honour
so
I
am
very
excited
and
eager
to
take
this
role,”
Shadab
said
after
his
appointment.

“This
is
a
big
responsibility
as
I
will
be
leading
a
nation
of
220
million
people
and
I
will
try
my
best
to
do
justice
with
it
with
all
the
ability
that
I
have,”
he
added.

Several
young
players
like
Saim
Ayub,
Ihsanullah
have
been
included
in
the
squad
after
their
superb
performances
in
the
ongoing
Pakistan
Super
League,
and
veterans
like
Faheem
Ashraf,
Imad
Wasim
have
also
been
recalled
in
the
team.

“I
want
to
congratulate
all
the
youngsters
who
have
gotten
selected
for
this
series.
Whenever
you
start
in
any
field,
you
want
to
go
to
the
highest
level
and
for
a
cricketer
being
selected
for
Pakistan
is
the
best
that
they
can
achieve.
This
is
a
young
unit
and
youngsters
always
bring
a
different
spark
and
energy,
and
there
is
no
doubt
that
this
series
is
going
to
be
very
exciting,”
the
new
Pakistan
captain
added.

The
series
against
Afghanistan
will
be
Pakistan’s
first
T20
assignment
since
their
loss
against
England
in
the
final
of
the
T20I
World
Cup
last
year.