Our performances are not consistent due to poor selection policy: Shahid Afridi lambasts PCB

One of the biggest names of the Pakistan cricketing circuit, Shahid Afridi has questioned the selection process of the Pakistan players and said that it has become too easy to represent the nation. 

The former all-rounder said that a player must spend at least two seasons in the domestic circuit and perform before getting picked in the national team. During a function in Pakistan, Afridi spoke about how it has become so easy for the young generation to play for Pakistan. 

He expressed his surprise at how the players were chopped and changed with debuts being handed over to several players in the white-ball format. 

"It has become so easy to play for the national team whereas in the past playing for the Pakistan team was the ultimate for any professional cricketer,” Afridi said.

The former swashbuckling all-rounder said that the selection criteria had become so easy that people with very little domestic experience is rushed into the national side and then shown the door in a haste. 

“That is why our performances are not consistent with the amount of cricket we play in Pakistan,” Afridi said. 

"Why have we made it so really easy for players to represent their country. I am sad to see that a player gives one or two good performances in domestic cricket or the PSL and he is in the national team,” Afridi took on the selection policy of the PCB. 

“What is this? You should make your cricketers play domestic cricket,” he further added.

Afridi feels that a player’s temperament, talent and ability to cope with pressure can only be analysed after he has spent at least two to three years in the domestic circuit. He added on the mental quotient which he feels is much more important when it comes to international cricket. 

He feels for a player to be more technically equipped he must toil hard in the domestic arena before being considered for national selection. 

"We must now judge the difference between just talent and mental strength of a player,” Afridi added. He feels that a selector gets an opportunity to judge the temperament of a player only after he has played two-three years in the domestic circuit. He further urged the coaches and the selectors to not show the door to players after a few blip ups. 

"If you give a chance to a player and he doesn’t perform, he should be sent back into domestic cricket. Don’t make playing for Pakistan so easy. Players must know the value of international cricket. I am totally against players coming into the side on just one or two performances,” Afridi concluded.