Former Pakistan captain Shahid Afridi opened up after the Babar Azam-led unit was knocked out of the T20 World Cup 2024 from the group stage.
Pakistan were officially eliminated from the World Cup after the match between the United States (USA) and Ireland was called off due to rain in Florida.
Talking after the match, Afridi commented on the rumours where it was stated that Pakistan may drop seven to eight players from the current team and said that unless you have a strong bench, that cannot be done.
“We have been hearing much these days that eight to nine players will be removed [from the team], it does not happen like that. You remove eight to nine players when you have that many boys waiting [for their chance]. If you are talking about removing Babar as a player, then do you have someone like him? Do we have a player capable of replacing [Mohammad] Rizwan? These types of talks are done when you have a strong bench,” Afridi said while talking on his YouTube channel.
He then urged the PCB to give respect to performers of domestic cricket and stated that the players who couldn’t perform in the T20 World Cup should be told to go and play in domestic cricket.
“You need to give respect to your domestic players, they play all year and give great performances like Salman Agha, Saud Shakeel, Sahibzada Farhan, pacer Mohammad Ali and many others, these players play all year domestic cricket and if we ignore their performances and bring a player on the performances of three matches, then we are doing injustice,” Afridi added.
“The players from this team be it Azam Khan, or Saim Ayub, they should be told to play domestic cricket for two straight years and maintain their fitness. The selection committee should ensure that if you want to play for Pakistan, then you have to do such and such thing.”
- Shahid Afridi
