Pakistan’s newly-appointed interim chief selector Shahid Afridi said that he wants to create two teams for the men’s national side.
Afridi, a former captain and flamboyant all-rounder of his period, expressed his ambition to put this idea into action before his term is up in a media interview in Karachi.
Afridi highlighted a “communication gap” as one of the main problems the Pakistan cricket team is experiencing at the press conference, and he insisted that the chief selector should speak with each player directly to be completely aware of their positions.
Afridi stated that after speaking with Haris Sohail and Fakhar Zaman one-on-one, he used to have a better understanding of the players.
The duo was added to Pakistan’s probable three-match ODI series against New Zealand.
“The major problem that I’ve observed here is the communication gap among management, doctors, and the selection committee. It is important for a chief selector – be it me or someone else – to stay in direct contact with players,” he said.
“When I spoke to Haris and Fakhar, I got to know the better picture and I invited them to the fitness Test,” he said.
However, Afridi stated that he is not in control of a one-man operation and that he instead believes in distributing power, which the former captain views as a necessary element for success.
The former captain stated that having people with experience like Haroon Rashid, along with those involved in domestic cricket like Abdul Razzaq and Rao Iftekhar Anjum, is helpful for him.
The National Stadium managers and the interim head selector also spoke about possible wickets for the second Test, which starts on January 2.
According to Afridi, the second test will be played on a better wicket.
“It will be something where bowlers will get some support and batters will also enjoy their stay, there will be some bounce on wicket,” Afridi said.
“We can not become a top team by playing on these wickets. The wickets on which we’ve been playing are injurious to our bowlers, pacers will start having fitness issues and spinners will get their fingers injured.”
“Who says we can not produce better wickets in Pakistan? We certainly can if we are allowed to do so,” said the former captain.
In response to questions, Afridi said he would make an effort to treat all performers equally for as long as he maintained the role of the chief selector. Mohammad Huraira would have been added to the likely list if the squad had 25 players, he added. He gave the child praise and promised a bright future for him.
“One thing is that our academies are not working for the last 8 months, it is important that we keep them running for our domestic and under-19 performers. I will try to start a camp there for all such youngsters,” the chief selector added.
He said that Babar Azam is the backbone of the Pakistan team and the selection committee is there to support him so that he can get stronger in the field.
