LAHORE – Former Pakistan skipper Shahid Khan Afridi, who was appointedinterim head of the selection committee for men’s team, dropped a hint onSunday about the possibility of some senior players returning to thePakistan cricket team.
The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) Management Committee led by Najam Sethi onSaturday appointed Afridi interim head of the men’s national selectioncommittee for the home series against New Zealand.
In his first decision in his new role a day before, Afridi added threeplayers to the team – pacers Mir Hamza and Shahnawaz Dahani and off-spinnerSajid Khan.
At the media talk in Karachi upon assuming his new office, Afridi was askedif any changes will be made to the batting lineup or Sarfaraz Ahmed will bebrought back, and he said: “Babar Azam said something a few days ago thatthe ‘workload should be shifted’ which is very good. There are many playerswho have been continuously playing all three formats and it sometimesbecomes difficult.”
Afridi said the bench should be so strong that any player’s absence is notfelt or does not impact the team’s performance. “We have such players whoare seniors and have been relegated outside [the team] for many days,” hesaid.
About his decision to add three players, Afridi termed it a “very gooddecision” of the selection committee to induct two more fastbowlers, addingthat he learnt that Naseem Shah was still not fully fit.
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“That decision of ours was good. Our bowlers who we have been carrying[idly] for many years such as Dahani, when will we let him play and givehim a chance and make him a bowler?
“And then there is Mir Hamza because we don’t have Shaheen Shah Afridi sowe have a need for a fastbowler and I think that boy deserves it and hasgiven good performances,” Afridi said.
He said the national selection committee would have a meeting soon withskipper Babar Azam about the final lineup of the team. “This selectioncommittee has come here to make Azam as good a captain as good aworld-class batter he is,” Afridi said.
