Pakistan's former captain Shahid Afridi has strongly rejected rumors of an impending overhaul in the national cricket team after their early exit from the ongoing T20 World Cup in Australia. In a recent interaction on his YouTube channel, the flamboyant all-rounder slammed such baseless speculations and stressed the need to back young domestic talents with patience and faith.
Afridi questioned the feasibility of removing as many as 8-9 players from the squad when there are no immediate replacements of similar caliber waiting in the wings. “Do we have a batter capable of replacing our captain Babar Azam, who is simply phenomenal with the bat?” he asked. In a similar vein, the veteran questioned if Pakistan has found a wicket-keeper as prolific as Mohammad Rizwan yet.
The former star all-rounder urged the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) selection committee to respect the consistent performers in domestic cricket. “Players like Saud Shakeel, Sahibzada Farhan and pacer Mohammad Ali put in the hard yards every season but still don't get long ropes,” he observed. Afridi wants youngsters like Azam Khan and Saim Ayub to cement their place in the domestic circuit for a couple of years before being considered for national duty.
