Shahid Afridi has been appointed as the Interim Chief Selector by the Pakistan Cricket Board. The news came today after Najam Sethi announced some major changes to the Pakistan Cricket Board and the direct management of the team.
The news was received with a lot of applause as Shahid Afridi is considered to be a national hero and has a huge fan following in Pakistan as well as all over the world. However, this is not a permanent position. He has been hired and selected for the New Zealand One Day series for now.
Shahid Afridi New Chief Selector Pakistan
Najam Sethi has named a three-man committee which includes Shahid Afridi, Rao Iftikhar Anjum, and Abdul Razzaq. The committee has been selected to choose able men for upcoming Pakistan vs New Zealand ODI series that will start right after the 2 tests end.
They will also review the current Test squad that was chosen by previous Mohammad Wasim, he was sacked from the position just today as well. He was the Chief Selector that made plenty of controversial decisions in terms of choosing players who had relatively no performance over more experienced players who had been performing consistently.
Najam Sethi said about the new hiring:
“Shahid Afridi has been an attacking cricketer who played all his cricket with no fear. He has nearly 20 years of cricket experience, has featured in all formats with significant success, and more importantly, has always backed and supported young talent. So, in our collective opinion, there is no better person than him to understand the rigors, demands, and challenges of the modern-day game. I remain confident that through his insight and knowledge of the game, he will help Pakistan select the best and most deserving players, and contribute to the side’s success in the upcoming series.”
Shahid Afridi was previously named to the management committee before as well but he denied it as he was afraid of not doing it justice because of his Charitable Foundation. He said,
“I feel honored to have been assigned this responsibility by the PCB Management Committee and will leave no stone unturned in fulfilling this responsibility to the best of my abilities. We need to get back to our winning ways and I have no doubts that through meritocratic and strategic selection decisions, we will help the national side to perform strongly in the series against New Zealand and reclaim the confidence of our fans. I will soon convene a meeting of the selectors and will share my plans concerning the upcoming matches.”
The fans have high expectations and it looks like things will get better, especially for the new series.