LAHORE: Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) chairman Shaharyar Khan on Thursday fully backed veteran all-rounder Shahid Afridi as T20 captain until next year’s world T20 in the face of his waning form.

“There must be no doubt that Afridi is a match-winner and the PCB has appointed him captain until next year’s world T20 and we will support him,” said the PCB chief at a function held here in connection with signing of sponsorship deeds with different business houses for the upcoming series against England, starting from Oct 13 in the UAE.

Afridi was an experienced campaigner whose presence in the national team was vital, maintained Shaharyar who said that the Board did not force any player to announce retirement.

“I want to clarify that the PCB has got no policy of pressurising any player —whether it is Misbah-ul-Haq, Younis Khan or Afridi — to announce his retirement,” claimed the chairman of the Board.

Though experienced middle-order batsman Younis and Test captain Misbah are in their advancing years, they are playing their role effectively in Test cricket, the only format of the game they are featuring in.

But Afridi’s performance has not been what the PCB chief has contended about besides the fact that he has been in his twilight years; with the ageing all-rounder’s both batting and bowling forms being on decline.

The T20 captain who nowadays has confined himself to the shortest version of the game has played nine matches in the last one year while scoring just 108 at a poor average of 15.42, with a top-score of 45 against Sri Lanka.

With the ball, the situation gets gloomier as Afridi who has been appearing in TV ads more than any other cricketer has claimed just five wickets at a poor average of 51.80.

However, the flamboyant all-rounder seems to be getting worried about his waning form with the T20 captain, as per media reports, deciding to relocate to Lahore, for he believes the Punjab capital has got better training facilities at the National Cricket Academy.

Besides backing the T20 captain during the said function, the PCB chief also shed light on many recent issues with the suspect bowling action of new find off-spinner Bilal Asif propping up in the discussion.

Answering a question about the PCB failure to check Bilal’s suspect bowling action before inducting him into the squad against Zimbabwe where his action was reported illegal, Shaharyar admitted that it was the responsibility of domestic umpires, referees and others.

However, the chairman disclosed that the PCB had earlier got doubts about Bilal’s bowling action but it was hoped that his arm bend won’t exceed the stipulated 15 degrees.

He further said that it was difficult to systematically check bowlers’ action at the domestic level, since the PCB had not got its own biomechanics lab. He, however, said a lab was being constructed at the NCA and would be functional in the next couple of months.

Talking about chances of the scheduled Indo-Pak series in the UAE in December, Shaharyar didn’t look optimistic, saying there seemed little chances of the said series.

“Let me state it clearly that I see little chances of the Indo-Pak series but we will wait till the official decision of the BCCI in this regard,” Shaharyar remarked.

“Our policy is still unchanged and that is: don’t mix sports with politics. Following that policy, we have toured India in 1999 in the face of severe opposition from an Indian religious group which even resorted to digging up the pitches,” maintained Shaharyar who in the same breath dispelled the impression that the Board had even offered the BCCI to at least play ODI and T20 contests, if not Test series.

He further said that though both the boards had signed the MoU in connection with the said series, the BCCI needed permission from the Indian government before giving a final nod to the PCB.

Unfortunately, the current political situation was not conducive, stated the PCB chief who did not shy away from saying that he was not optimistic about the bilateral series.

On the other hand, the chairman vowed that the Board would take up the issue of foreign teams’ visit to Pakistan in the upcoming ICC meeting in Dubai, saying that the PCB would plead its case by inducing other members to help in sending at least junior and ‘A’ teams to Pakistan.

“We have recently hosted Zimbabwe and Bangladesh women’s team successfully and earlier Kenya and Afghanistan, too. Therefore, we are in a position to plead our case successfully at the ICC meeting,” he said.

Published in Dawn, October 9th, 2015

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