Many Congrats to Australia on Winning World Cup, Hard Luck India: Shaheen Shah Afridi

Pakistan’s newly appointed T20I captain Shaheen Shah Afridi congratulated Australia after they clinched their sixth ODI World Cup title on Sunday after beating the Indian cricket team at Narendra Modi Stadium, Ahmedabad. It was a clinical performance from the Aussies in the summit clash as they dominated the hosts in all three departments to lift the coveted trophy once again.

Travis Head hit a sensible 137 runs on a tricky batting surface to power Australia to a convincing six-wicket win over India on Sunday.

Chasing a tricky 241 for victory in the final, Australia slipped to 47-3 before left-handed opener Head hit his second century of the tournament to steer the team home with seven overs to spare.

The premier Pakistan pacer also talked highly of the Indian team and said they played fantastically well throughout the tournament.

“Many congrats to @CricketAus on winning the World Cup title. Surely the better team on the day. Hard luck India but the team played fantastically well throughout the tournament,” Shaheen said.

Meanwhile, after Babar Azam’s resignation as Pakistan’s captain from all formats the PCB announced Shaheen as the T20I skipper and Shan Masood in the Test. Meanwhile, the board has yet to name the ODI skipper.

Shortly after Babar announced his decision to relinquish captaincy, PCB shared a release, confirming that Babar met PCB chief Zaka Ashraf on Wednesday.

“PCB Chairman Management Committee Zaka Ashraf and Babar Azam met at the PCB headquarters in Lahore today and had a cordial meeting to discuss various aspects and the World Cup performance. Babar was asked to continue as Test captain, while he has been relieved of captaincy in white-ball cricket for him to focus on one format,” read the PCB release.

“After consultation with his family, Babar decided to step down and PCB stands behind his decision. PCB respects his decision and continues to support him as a player,” informed the release further.

Pakistan were able to win just four games in World Cup 2023 under Babar’s captaincy.

After their humiliating World Cup exit, Babar and Co. will return to action next month as they will take on Australia in a three-match Test series, with Masood due to make his Test captaincy bow.