PCB wants Shahid Afridi to play his farewell T20I against West Indies
Dec 31, 2018 at 1:56 PM
The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) wants to give veteran all-rounder Shahid Afridi a chance to officially announce his retirement from international cricket during the Twenty 20 series against West Indies in the UAE later this year.
According to a report in the “Daily Jang”, PCB wants Afridi to consider his retirement on his own after being ignored for the lone international against England and last week.
The national selectors feel Afridi should retire with a guard of honour.
“Apparently the board and national selectors don’t agree and feel that Afridi should retire gracefully although he can continue to play in foreign leagues and domestic cricket,” one PCB source said.
The source said after the T20 series against the West Indies, Pakistan will not be playing another T20 international until next April so they want to reach a conclusion with Afridi for the coming series.
“The plan is to talk to Afridi and explain to him that since the selectors are now building a new T20 squad for the next World T20 there is no place for him. He will be offered the chance to be included in the Pakistan squad for the T20 series against the West Indies as the 16th player and play in the matches,” the source said.
“The PCB also wants to organise a grand farewell for him in Dubai during the T20 series for which the selectors have already announced a 15-member squad,” he added.
The 36-year-old cricketer stepped down as captain following the lackluster World T20 campaign in India in April and since then has been ignored by the selectors.
Afridi retired from Test cricket in 2010 while leading the team in England and also retired from ODIs after the last World Cup in Australia and New Zealand, currently only plays in the shortest format of the game.
Pakistan will play the T20 internationals against the Windies on September, 23, 24 and 27.