Pakistan should also prepare for tougher opponents: Afridi

KARACHI: Former Pakistan skipper Shahid Afridi has congratulated Pakistan captain Sarfraz Ahmed for leading the team to victories in T20 and One-day International (ODI) series in West Indies but added that the team should also prepare for tougher opponents.

“First I congratulate new captain Sarfraz for leading the team to victories,” Afridi said during a press briefing here on Thursday at National Stadium.

“However, I must warn the players to adapt to contemporary cricket, which demands more power hitting. Beating teams like Australia and South Africa would be tougher and we cannot beat them if we continue to play slow,” he said.

Afridi, who has recently been named among eight Ambassadors of Champions Trophy, said Pakistan have good bowlers and recently some more bowlers have made the cut for the national team after performing well in Pakistan Super League (PSL) but now the need is of good batsmen in the side.

“The only good young batsman we have now is Babar Azam. There is a need to start working on young batsmen in order to provide national team reliable batsmen in near future,” he added.

He said that he has joined Karachi Kings as their President and has planned to start working to find hunt and train talented cricketers initially in Sindh and then in Pakistan.

Afridi has come under criticism for bypassing Pakistan Cricket Board to sign a deal with Karachi Kings while leaving his previous team Peshawar Zalmi without its management consent. However, Afridi has said that he has joined Karachi Kings more in managerial position than as a player.

“I have lived in Karachi and it is my city and I want to work here to train players of the province and subsequently the whole country,” he said.