Afridi announced his retirement soon after Pakistan lost the first Test match against Australia at Lord’s by 150 runs, saying he did not have the temperament to play Test matches.
Shahid Afridi’s abrupt retirement from Test cricket, leaving the team in lurch during the ongoing England tour, has compelled Pakistani selectors and the team management to rethink their decision to continue with the flamboyant all rounder as captain of the one-day and T20 teams.
Afridi announced his retirement soon after Pakistan lost the first Test match against Australia at Lord’s by 150 runs, saying he did not have the temperament to play Test matches, something which didn’t go down well within the team management, including manager Yawar Saeed, coach Waqar Younis and also PCB chief Ejaz Butt.
PCB officials, who spoke on conditions of anonymity, said that Afridi’s decision has infuriated the management and that his one-day and T20 captaincy is also under threat.
“If he wanted to quit as the Test captain, there were better ways of doing that. What happens in between we don’t know about that. Currently, we are focussing on the Test series,” The News quoted the official, as saying.
Speculations are rife that the PCB is even contemplating to hand back the captaincy of shorter versions of the game to Shoaib Malik, or even to Salman Butt, depending upon his performance in the Test series.
“It all depends on the success in the remaining Tests. A good performance could see newly appointed captain Salman Butt dictating terms. A successful captain holds the power in Pakistan cricket,” the PCB official said.
“Butt, who is a favourite amongst PCB officials for being educated and well behaved, could well take over as Pakistan’s future captain in all forms of cricket if his team performs well in England,” team insiders added.
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