Shaheen Afridi: Imran Khan suggested I become Lahore Qalandars captain

It took merely two years for Shaheen Shah Afridi to assume the mantle of most successful PSL captain, but according to the bowler himself, he never had any interest in captaincy before his appointment. All that changed, though, with a meeting at the Prime Minister's office a few years ago.

"I have not captained at any age level, really, maybe once at Under-19 level," Shaheen told ESPNcricinfo. "I never even had an interest in captaincy. But then in 2021, I was sitting in the PM office with Sameen bhai [Lahore Qalandars owner] and Aqib Javed, and Imran Khan [then Pakistan Prime Minister] suggested that I be appointed captain. Obviously, you can never say no to Imran bhai. After that I became captain of Lahore. I was vice-captain, but when Imran bhai said I should be captain, that's when the change happened."

When Shaheen, who has never hidden his admiration for Imran, was appointed captain of the Qalandars, they were, by almost every metric, the worst performing PSL franchise, and among the worst in all league cricket around the world. They had failed to make the playoffs in five of the first six seasons, finishing rock bottom in each of the first four. In the two seasons they have been led by Afridi, there has been a complete reversal, with Qalandars winning the title in 2022, and backing it up by becoming the first PSL side to defend the trophy when they triumphed again in 2023.

Shaheen revealed he went to pay a visit to Imran after Qalandars' first title win. "When we won the title in 2022, I went to meet Imran bhai and told him 'at least we've now won one title!' And I thanked him at the time for showing faith in me. That's when my captaincy started, until then I had no interest. Imran said most great fast bowlers have been captains because fast bowlers have the authority to set fields and they understand other fast bowlers, concerning what they need and what they're going through. Those few nuggets of wisdom from him were very valuable to me, and I'd like to give him full credit for it."

Few people would understand better the extent to which fast-bowling captains can enjoy success than Imran. He was Pakistan captain through most of the 1980s when Pakistan established themselves as the second-best Test side in the world after the West Indies, before capping his career with Pakistan's only ODI World Cup title in 1992.

Afridi now has a chance to create history of his own and become the first captain to lead his side to three successive franchise T20 league titles, with Qalandars taking on Islamabad United at the Gaddafi Stadium in the first game of their title defence. Qalandars were rocked in their preparations when the PCB announced on Thursday that Haris Rauf's central contract was being terminated as penalty for the bowler making himself unavailable for Pakistan's Test series in Australia. The decision took the franchise by surprise, with Afridi saying he hoped the PCB would also reflect on the timing of the decision.

"I don't have much to say about the PCB's decision," Afridi said. "But the timing is such we have a match in one day and the decision just came through. Haris is a mentally strong boy and this won't affect him hopefully, and perhaps the PCB will also understand making the decision at this time was not correct. Haris is doing fine, he's always ready to play for Pakistan."

On Qalandars' chances of going for three in a row, Afridi remains bullish. "We've won twice, so winning a third - why not?"