Pakistan’s captain in One Day Internationals and Twenty20 Internationals, Shahid Khan Afridi said Sunday that he never wanted to tour West Indies but only went there on insistence of fans and former cricketers.
He was talking to The Sports Encounter correspondent here Sunday after returning from West Indies. Pakistan won the five-match series 3-2. Afridi said he felt tired after a long ICC Cricket World Cup 2011 and wanted to rest but on insistence by his fans and former players he made up his mind to tour West Indies.
He showed his disappointment on failing to perform with bat and ball but said he will try to give his best in the upcoming series. Talking about his differences with coach Waqar Younis, skipper Afridi said that everyone should mind their own business and shouldn’t poke their noses in other’s matters.
He admitted having some issues with Waqar Younis and said that he would soon call on Pakistan Cricket Board chairman Ijaz Butt and then talk to media after that meeting. Boom Boom Afridi said that the team management has some issues but negotiation is the only way out and he would take this matters in the knowledge of the PCB chief before sharing it with the media. Afridi wished good luck to Pakistan cricket team ahead of the Test series against West Indies and said that Pakistan under Misbah-ul-Haq is favorites to win the series as the captain is also in a good batting form while inclusion of Umar Gul will give bowling attack the depth it lacked in the ODI series.
Talking about role of youngsters in the team, Afridi said Junaid Khan, Usman Salahuddin, and Sadaf Hussain are good cricketers. Unfortunately, Sadaf couldn’t get a chance to play any of the matches but he would have learnt a lot while travelling with the team and be part of the proceedings, he added.
Talking about Pakistan’s batting failure, Afridi said that Pakistan certainly needed a batting coach as a poor show by batsmen ruined the euphoria of winning the series. The Pakistan captain admitted that it is still bowlers who have been winning Pakistan the matches but he said that a batting coach is the need of the hour to make batsmen bat as per the coaching books.