Pakistan skipper Shahid Afridi has backed young opener Ahmed Shehzad and said that he is still young and is expected to perform well in their tour to West Indies.
After Pakistan’s ouster at the hands of India in the semi-final of the ICC World Cup 2011, the national selectors decided to draft some new players in the squad. However, Afridi said that wholesale changes cannot be made in the side.
“All the seniors cannot be replaced at once but a blend of youth and experience would be taken along. Young crickets performed very well in the World Cup and after West Indies more youngsters will be included in the team for the Zimbabwe tour,” said Afridi.
Afridi said that he has taken over the captaincy role with an aim of improving the image of Pakistan cricket and with the assistance of the Pakistan Cricket Board Chairman Ijaz Butt, has taken steps to make the team number one in the world.
Under Afridi’s captaincy, Pakistan reached the semi-final stage of the ICC World Cup 2011. Afridi led from the front and was the top wicket-taker of the tournament by claiming 21 wickets along with India’s Zaheer Khan.
While answering a question regarding Abdul Razzaq’s statement of not being used properly in the World Cup, Afridi said that all the players were utilised properly so Razzaq should be satisfied.
Talking about his Test career, Afridi said that his playing style does not suit the format and there are quite a few talented players in domestic cricket who can fill his place.
Looking at Pakistan’s poor batting performance in the recently concluded mega event, the skipper and selectors decided to appoint former legendry batsman, Javed Miandad as batting coach ahead of the West Indies tour. However, Miandad said that he would take up the responsibility after the tour since he did not feel he had enough time to prepare the team.
Pakistan’s tour to the Caribbean includes one Twenty20 international, two Test matches and five One Day Internationals. It officially gets underway on 21 April, 2011 with the only Twenty20 at Gros Islet.
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