'What is this?' - Shahid Afridi slams PCB for 'easy selection' in the national team

Former Pakistan all-rounder Shahid Afridi has come down hard on the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) and told the players are easily being selected in the team after impressing in one or two games. The 44-year-old, who is one of the players in the draft of Kashmir Premier League (KPL), spoke about how the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) officials and management should test the players for one or two years in the domestic setup before selecting them in the national team.

In fact, former Pakistan opener Salman Butt too slammed the management for the same and told domestic competition should be valued, rather than the T20 competition and franchise cricket. Now, the former all-rounder echoed the sentiments of Butt and feels players should be strictly selected by consistently doing well in the domestic competitions.

The debate gained further steam when Azam Khan was included for the team’s tour to England, while not actually playing a lot of List A and T20 cricket. “The main thing is that we in Pakistan have made it really easy to represent the country. One or two performances in domestic cricket make you eligible for the national side. What is this? You should make your cricketers play domestic cricket,” Afridi told Cricket Pakistan.

Shahid Afridi feels temperament is important for players

The 44-year-old stated how players’ temperament is important and it can be judged only when a player is in the team for two to three years. If he doesn’t perform well, then he can be sent back to a domestic setup.

“You should give batsmen at least two to three years so that you know about their temperament. The same applies to fast bowlers. If you give chance to a player and he doesn’t perform, he should be brought back into domestic cricket. Let them play for one or two years. Don’t make playing for Pakistan that easy. I am totally against players coming into the side on just one or two performances,” he added.

Afridi also feels self-belief is one of the important attributes for any player and that determines how long a player eventually ends up playing.