'I don't think my performance will be affected by this honour,' he said. 'My focus will remain on giving my best for the team and hopefully I will carry on from where I left in the Twenty20 World Cup.'

After the World Twenty20, Afridi opted out of the three-match Test series against Sri Lanka but is now back in the 16-man Pakistan squad for the one-day series that gets underway in Dambulla from Thursday.

It will be the first time Afridi will lead the national team in any format of the game, nearly 13 years after making his Pakistan debut.

Afridi, though, has plenty of captaincy experience at the domestic level, having been at the helm of Habib Bank Limited, Sindh and Karachi Dolphins over the past few years.

'Captaining Pakistan shouldn't be a problem for me. I'm confident that the team will give its best,' he said.