T20 World Cup: Cricket Twitter explodes as Shahid Afridi resigns as Pakistan captain

Pakistani cricket legend Shahid Afridi has resigned as the country's Twenty20 captain – but insists he still wants to play for his national side.

Pakistan suffered a poor run of form during the ICC T20 World Cup 2016 championship, held in India, losing games to India, New Zealand and Australia in the group stages of the tournament.

Afridi is one of the most popular names in Pakistani cricket, amassing a fan base that includes over 5 million Facebook fans from 20 years of service to the sport . This announcement follows his earlier retirements from Test and One Day International cricket tournaments in 2010 and 2011, respectively.

Sky Sports reported Afridi – often referred to as 'Boom Boom' – as saying: "Today I wish to inform my fans in Pakistan and all over the world that I am relinquishing the captaincy of the T20 Pakistani team of my own volition.

"On this day, I thank Allah... for His kindness and mercy, which enabled me to discharge my leadership duties, to the best of my abilities, for the sake of the honour and prestige of my motherland.

"For me it was a great honour to lead my country in all three formats of the game. My profound thanks to the PCB and its chairman Mr. Shahryar Khan Sb. who gave me the honour to lead the national team."

Concluding the statement, Afridi said: "I would also like to inform that InshaAllah I intend to continue to play the game for my country and league cricket, and request my fans to kindly keep praying and supporting me for my best future performances for Pakistan as a player; and in all other arenas of the game, world over."

The 2016 T20 World Cup concludes today (3 April) as England face the West Indies in the final, held at Eden Gardens, Kolkata, India.

In his post-tournament report, Pakistan's team manager Intikhab Alam criticised Afridi heavily, claiming Afridi he was "absolutely clueless in terms of on-field tactics and off-field leadership", adding: "The captain failed to optimally utilise the talent at his disposal... his bowling changes and field placement, too, left a lot to be desired.

"To cap it all, the tournament was being held in India, where the team was under multiple scanners at the same time, pushing the stress and anxiety levels very high."

Afridi has faced further criticism from cricket fans on Twitter, with the cricketing legend known for announcing – and then retracting – retirement statements in the past.

IBTimes UK has compiled some of the best Twitter reactions following Afridi's statement.