Shahid Afridi steps down as captain of Pakistan's Twenty20 side

The 36-year-old had hinted in the past that he would retire following the World Twenty20 campaign and after Pakistan's disappointing exit he said he would take his time before coming to a decision.

But Afridi, who has made just one Test appearance since 2006 as he focused on white-ball cricket and has not played a one-day international in over a year, revealed in a statement on his official Twitter page that he had decided to continue in the game's shortest format but relinquished the captaincy.

The statement read: "Today I wish to inform my fans in Pakistan & all over the world that I am relinquishing the captaincy of the T20 Pakistani team of my own volition. For me it was a great honour to lead my country in all three formats of the game.

"I intend to continue to play the game for my country and league cricket."

Afridi, who scored the winning runs when Pakistan won the 2009 World Twenty20, has played more T20 international games than anyone else and is two away from becoming the first man to reach 100 caps in the sprint format.

He has played in 98 of Pakistan's 106 matches in T20 history - no other country has played more than 91 times - while t he all-rounder has also taken more wickets in T20 internationals than any other player with 97.