“Rizwan isn’t performing, you have to keep pressure on him,” Shahid Afridi hints politics and regionalism are influencing Pakistan team selections
Shahid Afridi reckons if Rizwan's batting form is not consistent, an experienced wicketkeeper like Sarfaraz Ahmed can be given an opportunity
The former Pakistan captain Shahid Afridi reckons that Pakistan’s premier wicketkeeper-batsman Mohammad Rizwan isn’t performing as consistently in test cricket as he should and he shouldn’t be a guaranteed selection all the time if he doesn’t score consistently.
Shahid Afridi was speaking as a cricket expert on SAMAA TV and was talking about the recent test series between Pakistan and Sri Lanka, where Rizwan couldn’t score a half-century in any of the four innings that he played.
The Pakistan team management slotted Rizwan at no. 5 in the first test and then promoted him to no. 4 in the second test, but despite occupying positions in the higher middle order, Rizwan couldn’t live up to the expectations.
According to Shahid Afridi, if Rizwan doesn’t perform and the services of an experienced wicketkeeper-batsman like Sarfaraz Ahmed is available to the team management, they should use his services, rather than persisting with a player who is not performing consistently.
There have been a lot of discussions in the Pakistan cricket circles that the selections in Pakistan cricket are influenced by regionalism and since Sarfaraz is from Karachi, he has not been given as many opportunities as he should.
Everything in Pakistan is influenced by politics: Shahid Afridi
When Afridi was asked if regionalism exists in team selections, he didn’t deny it. The former allrounder insisted that there is nothing in Pakistan that is not influenced by politics, not even sports. The decision-makers need to make sure that such things don’t happen and the deserving players get a go.
While in the series against Sri Lanka, Rizwan couldn’t score as many runs as he was expected to, he had scored a hundred in the second test match of the previous test series against Australia at home. That knock of Rizwan had actually helped Pakistan save the test match as well.
