New Delhi: Pakistan’s all-rounder Shahid Afridi gave up the T20 captaincy on Sunday. After the disastrous performance in the T20 International World Cup of 2016, the captain had to face criticism and condemnation from media, fans and so on.

According to a statement, the 35-year-old, who stepped into the role of captaincy after Mohammad Hafeez in 2014, stated that he was not retiring from the twenty overs format but just giving up the leadership role. He wants to keep himself available for selection for Pakistan's next international T20 assignment.

"Today I wish to inform my fans in Pakistan and all over the world that I am relinquishing the captaincy of the T20 Pakistan team of my own volition," Afridi commented. He also added that it was a great honour for him to lead Pakistan in all the three formats of the game

Afridi's captaincy was brought to question after his team failed to qualify for the semis. Questions aroused on his fielding strategy, player management, etc. Under Afridi, Pakistan also did not succeed to qualify for the Asia cup final of 2016. He had already retired from the 50-over format at the end of the last year's World Cup. The all-rounder played 27 Tests for Pakistan before retiring from the format in 2010. He has played 92 T20Is and has aggregated 1405 runs at a strike-rate of 150.75 and has picked up 97 wickets at an economy of 6.61.

Afridi was the leading wicket-taker in T20I International. He has played major role in Pakistan's T20 setup. He had immensely contributed during the semi finals and finals in 2009 World Cup and finally helped Pakistan to clinch the title.