Shahid Afridi laments Fawad Alam’s exclusion from Australia Tests

ISLAMABAD: Former skipper Shahid Afridi is surprised that Fawad Alam has not been picked for Pakistan’s upcoming Test series against Australia.

“If Fawad could cannot be a part of the national squad, he should have been named in Pakistan A squad," Afridi told media persons after opening a school in collaboration with the Green Crescent Foundation on Tuesday.

The former skipper also backed beleaguered Sarfraz Ahmed to lead Pakistan until the next year’s World Cup.

"Pakistan has not performed well in Asia Cup but this doesn’t mean that Sarfraz should be sacked as captain. Why is it that the captain is always blamed for the team’s loss? Yes we had high expectations from the team,” he said.

Afridi said that Sarfraz Ahmed was an excellent captain who should remain in charge till the 2019 World Cup.”

He singled out the selection committee for the team’s poor showing in the Asia Cup.

“If the selection committee cannot pick players who are performing well in domestic cricket,  may be they should shut it down,” he added.