Star batter Babar Azam has been under the scanner since Pakistan's recent Test series defeat to England on home soil. The visitors dominated the proceedings throughout the tour, and it didn't look at any point that Pakistan were playing in their own backyard. England won the series 3-0, which prompted several current and former Pakistan players to question Babar's captaincy. Amid criticism, star pacer Shaheen Afridi, who has been out of action since the T20 World Cup final due to a knee injury, posted a tweet to back Babar.
"Babar Azam hamari or Pakistan ki Shan, jaan or pehchan hai. Wo Hamara kaptaan hai or rahe ga. Kuch or #sochnabhimanah hai. Please support this team. Yahi team hame jitaye gi bhi. Kahani abhi Khatam nahi howi. #Respect," Shaheen had tweeted.
However, the pacer has now deleted the tweet, just a day after Shahid Afridi's appointment as interim chief selector of the Pakistan senior men's team.
Pakistan are currently taking on New Zealand in the first Test of a two-match series in Karachi.
Babar won the toss and elected to bat against the Kiwis.
The home team made three changes from the last Test which they lost to England at the same venue, suffering their first-ever home 3-0 whitewash.
Sarfaraz Ahmed is playing his first Test since January 2019, while pacer Mir Hamza returns for the first time in four years.
Imam-ul-Haq, on the other hand, also returns after recovering from an injury.