LAHORE, Oct 10: Veteran Pakistan all-rounder Shahid Afridi says, if selected, he will be looking to score his first ever century against South Africa in the forthcoming One-day International series, but the player added it would not be an easy task batting at No. 7.

“Earlier this year, I made 88 against South Africa and 76 against the West Indies while batting at No. 7 position and now if I am given a chance by the selectors I wish to record a century in the coming ODI series against the Proteas,” Afridi, 33, told Dawn in an exclusive interview.

Asked whether he would want to bat up the order, Afridi said: “It is not an issue for me, it’s the decision of captains and the coaches. My first priority is to perform for my team, especially under difficult circumstances.”

Commenting on the series against South Africa, Afridi reckoned Pakistan were capable of winning against the Proteas, and added that knowing well UAE playing conditions the green-shirts should have no excuse for any bad performance.

“The pitches and the playing conditions in the UAE will suit us. Therefore, we will have no excuse to say that South Africa beat us because playing conditions in the UAE suited them more,” he said.

“However, no doubt for Pakistan this will be a tough series during which some new faces may emerge with impressive performances. Moreover, this high-profile series will also indicate where we stand [in world cricket],” Afridi, a veteran of 362 ODIs and 63 Twenty20 Internationals, said.

The experienced all-rounder believed South Africa looked a strong outfit in the presence of Hashim Amla, A.B. de Villiers and Jacques Kallis.

“De Villiers has improved his skills against spinners by playing in the Indian Premier League. Therefore, he could be a formidable player in the Pakistan series,” he predicted.

Afridi, who has been playing international cricket for as many as 17 years and who holds a number of world records in ODI format including the fastest century and the highest number of sixes, was satisfied with his international career.

“By the grace of Allah, I am still enjoying my cricket and I feel proud to have represented Pakistan at international stage for such a long time,” he stated.

However, the flamboyant all-rounder during his playing career has also seen almost 13 ins and outs from the national team for different reasons. “Yes, I staged several comebacks in international cricket but I tried to learn from these experiences. I feel proud to have competed against several big names like Curtly Ambrose, Courtney Walsh and many others, and captained my country in international cricket,” he said.

To a question, he said during his career a good number of coaches worked with the Pakistan team. However, the coach who impressed him most was late Bob Woolmer.

“Though every coach under whom I played had the talent, skills and the required qualities, Woolmer had an added quality to uplift players’ morale in a friendly atmosphere, particularly after a bad performance,” Afridi said.

Afridi praised Misbah-ul-Haq’s captaincy, noting his fine individual performances under demanding situations had led Pakistan to several victories in recent years. However, Afridi had an advice too for Misbah.

“Misbah must be aggressive against those players who throw their wickets away due to wrong shot selection and those who make [other] mistakes during matches, otherwise he is a good captain,” he said.

On being asked to compare the cricket development in Pakistan and that in India recently, Afridi was categorical in saying that the IPL featuring top players from across the world had helped India a great deal in improving their cricket structure.

“Indians are in a position to even form three national level teams from the current lot and this is all due to the IPL. It is a hard fact that no country can make a strong team after relieving seniors in good numbers, but India negated it as it has built a new strong team after saying goodbye to many [ageing and underperforming] cricketers.

“As regards Pakistan our problems are not big, despite the fact that we have not been playing our home series in Pakistan [since 2009] due to the precarious security situation here.

“We have to improve our domestic structure; every year, we should pick 80 to 90 best players from the Quaid-i-Azam Trophy and the Patron’s Trophy to form five teams to play against each other, and then pick the national team from them,” he said.

To a question, Afridi said his target was to continue international cricket until the 2015 World Cup after which he would examine his fitness and form in order to decide about his playing future.