He said, “As a team player, it is my duty to support our captain Babar Azam. I have played under his captaincy and I have nothing but respect for him.”
“I will try to help him both on and off the field. We are all one. Our goal is the same, to help Pakistan become the best team in the world.”
After Azam's decision to step down from the captaincy last year, Shan Masood was replaced as the Test captain and Shaheen as the T20I captain.
After a poor performance in the World Cup, former head coach Mickey Arthur was replaced by team director Mohammad Hafeez, during whose tenure Pakistan suffered a 3–0 Test defeat in Australia and a T20 series defeat in New Zealand.
Ahead of the World Cup in the United States and West Indies in June, Pakistan will play five T20 matches against New Zealand on home soil, followed by three in Ireland and four in England.
New Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) chairman Mohsin Naqvi announced changes to the board's selection process this month in an effort to improve results ahead of the tournament, making captains and head coaches part of the process.
“We have reconstituted the seven-member selection committee, but the different thing is that there will be no chairman,” Naqvi said at a press conference, adding that each member would have “equal powers”.