Thaindian News

Karachi, May 26 (ANI): Newly appointed Pakistan Test captain Shahid Afridi wants to clear out all controversies surrounding the team, and has said that his prime motive would be to build a strong conspiracy-free unit and promote ‘unity’ in the squad.

Afridi, who would leading Pakistan in the upcoming Asia Cup in Sri Lanka, and the ‘home’ Test series in England, said he would make sure that players are not involved in the sort of conspiracies, which have been witnessed in the recent past, particularly during and after the disastrous Australia tour.

“My main task is to make a team out of this talented bunch of players.I also want to promote unity and harmony among the boys because that’s the only way to get the best out of them,” The News quoted Afridi, as saying.

“I will not tolerate any sort of conspiracies in my team. I will encourage the boys to discuss their problems openly and I will tell them to bury their differences each time they play for Pakistan. When we leave on a tour I will ask them to leave all their problems behind and just focus on giving their best for the country,” the flamboyant all-rounder added.

Afridi, who has not played any Test cricket for nearly four years, admitted that it would be a difficult task to lead the squad in the longest version of the game.

“It’s a very tough task. I haven’t played Test cricket for quite some time but will have to somehow lead the team from the front on the tour of England.To play against Australia and England in English conditions would need a lot of guts. But I’m hopeful that the boys will rise to the challenge,” he said.

Commenting on the inclusion of fast bowler Shoaib Akhtar and banned former captains Younis Khan and Shoaib Malik in the list of 35 probables for the June 15-24 Asia Cup, Afridi said the likely return of experienced players would give Pakistan’s chances a great boost in the upcoming assignments.

“Younis is coming back, Shoaib is coming back and that’s going to help me a lot,” he said. (ANI)