Sydney, June 13 (Online): Former Pakistan T20I captain Shahid Afridi on Monday clarified he is not confined to only one franchise in the Pakistan Super League and can move to another team if need be, Australian based cricket website reported on Monday.
“I am a professional cricketer and whichever franchise needs me I am available for it. It is not that I am confined to Peshawar Zalmi only,” Afridi told cricket.com.au.
“No doubt that my current team is Zalmi but before moving forward I need to sort out some things with Javed Afridi (owner and chairman of Peshawar Zalmi),” he said.
“The purpose of having franchises was not to just play PSL but to improve the cricket infrastructure in Pakistan and I give credit to Zalmi for organising tournaments and camps in Peshawar and other places in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa, but there are some things that need to be sorted, (there is) no big issue otherwise.”
The 36-year-old was not selected for the tour of England where Pakistan will play only one T20I, however, Afridi has some back up plans.
“I was offered to play Big Bash League in Australia almost every season in the last two or three years but I wasn’t able to take the offer due to my international commitments,” he said. “But if I am offered it this year I’ll surely give it a go.”
Afridi believes chief selector Inzamamul Haq should have been appointed in a more batting oriented role. “In my personal opinion I would have loved to see Inzamamul Haq as a batting coach with Pakistan,” he added. “It would have been really helpful for the team. He could have been a selector at the same time, too.”
Lala also hoped that Mickey Arthur will be good for Pakistani players due to his aggressive approach. “I have played under Arthur’s coaching; it was back in 2003 when I was playing a domestic season in South Africa with Griqualand West. I find him a very good and aggressive coach and I think the Pakistan team needs an aggressive coach,” said Afridi.
“He has experience of working with big teams such as Australia and South Africa too so I can expect that he will bring good results for Pakistan.”
Afridi is currently representing Hampshire in the England’s domestic T20 competition and believes Pakistan will be faced with a hard task when they tour the country for the four-Test, five-ODI and one-off T20I series.
“To beat England in their conditions is a huge achievement,” he said. “The amount of domestic cricket they play is massive and that is the reason their batsmen and bowlers are so familiar with the pitches in the country. These factors will favour England in the coming series.
“Even if Pakistan manage to draw the series I think it will be a big achievement. Pakistan’s Test team however is very stable and has done well lately in the subcontinent but to win in England the players will have to put in hard yards.”-Online
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