“PCB Interested In Extending Tenure As Chief Selector But…”: Shahid Afridi Opens Up On Future Plans

File photo of Shahid Afridi.© AFP

The Pakistan Cricket Board went through a series of changes in December last year. It included the sacking of the then chairman Ramiz Raja from his role with Najam Sethi taking over the duties later. On the other hand, the PCB also appointed Shahid Afridi as the chaiman of the National Selection Committee for the New Zealand series that kicked off with Tests and was followed by ODIs. The former Pakistan all-rounder led a four-member panel, also consisting of former all-rounder Abdul Razzaq and Rao Iftikhar Anjum, while Haroon Rashid was selected as the convener.

In a recent interview to local media, Shahid Afridi has revealed that the PCB was interested in extending his tenure as the chief selector of the national cricket team, however, he said that he could not continue in the role as he had “other commitments too”.

“PCB was interested in extending my tenure as chief selector of the Pakistan Cricket Team, but I have charity and other commitments too. However, I want to work for the development of U19 cricketers in future,” said Shahid Afridi as quoted by Cricket Pakistan.

Meanwhile, Afridi also opened up on the idea of having three captains across different formats of the game for Pakistan. While saying that he was not in favour of such a step, Afridi batted for the idea of one captain leading the side in ODI and Test cricket, while a different skipper being given the charge of the shortest format. He also backed Babar Azam in the role.

“I believe that Babar Azam has a lot of room for improvement in his captaincy. I am not in favour of having three different captains for the different game formats, and instead suggest naming one captain for ODI and Test cricket and a separate captain for T20s,” said Afridi.