"Heartbroken" after his controversy-marred stint as skipper last year, flamboyant Pakistan all-rounder Shahid Afridi has vowed never to accept the national cricket team's captaincy again.
"I don't want to be sacrificed time and again over the captaincy issue and this time I have decided to just continue playing as a member of the team and enjoy my cricket," he told Geo News from Australia.
Afridi said whatever he could do for the team as captain he did during his tenure.
"After the way I was treated last year I was heartbroken, and I have decided never to be the captain again and to just carry on as an ordinary member of the team and do whatever I can for the team as senior player," he said.
Afridi is presently playing in the Australian Big Bash Twenty20 league.
"I am happy with my present status and I want to continue with it in the future as well. No captaincy for me."
Afridi was sacked as captain last year in May after the manager, Intikhab Alam, reported to the Board that the captain had twice walked out of team meetings due to differences with the then coach, Waqar Younis, during the one-day series against the West Indies.
Later, PCB chairman Ijaz Butt also held Afridi responsible for the defeats in the last two ODIs. Although the board selected Afridi for the one-day series in Ireland, he announced his retirement in protest over the treatment meted out to him by the board.
The all-rounder also filed a case against the PCB in the Sindh high court but agreed to appear before the disciplinary committee and pay a fine of Rs 4.5 million for breaching the code of conduct.
It was only after Butt's tenure ended and Zaka Ashraf took over as new chairman that Afridi met him and announced he was taking back his retirement decision paving the way for his comeback to the national team during the series against Sri Lanka in the UAE late last year.
Afridi said the atmosphere of the dressing room has improved with a new management.
"While playing in the UAE I did my best to ensure the environment remained good and even when I was captain I used to make every effort to ensure that the dressing room atmosphere remained good."
