The Pakistan Cricket Board has started to look for a player beyond Shahid Afridi to hand over the captaincy of the one-day team and the likelihood is that the all-rounder would be left only with the T20 captaincy.
The recent performance of Afridi and his remarks against the team management have put his position as captain in jeopardy and PCB Chairman Ijaz Butt has in his recent statement has indicated that Afridi’s position could be in doubt for the upcoming two one-day match series against Ireland. The chairman on Wednesday met chief selector Mohsin Khan to decide the future of Afridi as captain and discussed different options for his replacement.
On the other hand with the likely option of Afridi’s ouster, the Karachi cricket circles have started a barrage of criticism against the PCB for ignoring the city’s cricketers. “Shahid Afridi has not been given any assurance of captaincy for the coming ODI tour of Ireland,” Butt said on Wednesday. Butt said that he clearly told Afridi in their last meeting that owing to the all-rounder’s disciplinary issues, the PCB was mulling the option of bringing in someone else.
He added that consultations were underway over selection of the team for the Ireland ODIs and a finalised team would be announced in a day or two. It was learnt that the PCB for the time being wanted to retain the Test team for the Ireland matches but the defeat in the opening Test match against the West Indies has made the board officials change their mind. Reports suggested that the name of Mohammad Hafeez has also come under consideration for the post in ODIs and the chances are that he might be tested in the Ireland matches.
The chief selector would give the names of the team by the end of the month and would also suggest the name of the captain. The final decision would rest with the chairman. Though Afridi has shown his availability for the Ireland series before leaving for US, but the PCB Chairman didn’t assure Afridi of retaining him as captain. It now depends upon how the pressure of regional politics and sponsors would act to get Afridi on board despite the fact his never ending antics have put him in the line of fire.
Afridi past his shelf life?
