KARACHI: Former Pakistan captain and legendary all-rounder Shahid Afridi has once again come out in support of wicket-keeper batter Sarfaraz Ahmed, asserting that the latter could have been given a chance amid Pakistan’s tour to Sri Lanka.
Afridi, while speaking to SAMAA TV, expressed concerns about Mohammad Rizwan’s rough patch in the longer formats and backed former Pakistan captain Sarfaraz to be given a chance in such formats, claiming such practice would keep pressure on a player.
“You have to keep pressure. The more stronger the bench is, the more careful the player will be about his performance. Rizwan hasn’t been performing, and I believe that on tours like this, Sarfaraz could have been given an opportunity,” Afridi stated.
The star all-rounder further opined on a debate raised by the host about how people brag about the arguments over city biases and how it affects the selection for certain players, Afridi insisted that ‘politics has come into everything in Pakistan’.
“The biggest problem is that politics has come into everything here,” Afridi said, before explaining how in Pakistan, people bring in politics even during [a] crisis like floods,” Afridi opined.
“The biases about cities is going on for a long time now. Someone will say, ‘this guy is from Karachi, or this guy is from Lahore’ (while talking about selection in the team). I don’t think these things should happen. They should behave like human beings,” he maintained.
It is pertinent to mention here that since his century against Australia in the second Test, Rizwan has scores of 1, 0, 19, 40, 24, and 37 in three Tests, and his disappointing patch with the bat has sparked criticism from fans and former cricketers.
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