Karachi, July 02: Flamboyant all-rounder Shahid Afridi has said Pakistan would face a big challenge of switching over to Test cricket and adjusting to the Sri Lankan conditions after their month-long stint in the cold English conditions during the twenty20 World Cup.
“The series in Sri Lanka would not be easy at all it will be a big challenge for our players to make successful adjustment from T20 cricket to Tests as well the different weather conditions,” Afridi said.
Afridi won the man of the match awards in the World Cup semi-finals and final with his allround performance and he said he wants to continue the same form in Sri Lanka.
However, the 29-year-old said he has decided to skip the Test series and concentrate on the one-day and T20 format of the game because he felt he was better at those.
“As it is I have not played too much Test cricket in last few years so I wanted to take a rest and prepare for the one-dayers in Sri Lanka,” he added.
With Younus Khan announcing his retirement from twenty20 cricket, Afridi’s is tipped as the next captain for the shortest version of the game but the right-handed batsman said he is not thinking about it now.
“I have never run after the captaincy. Just playing for Pakistan and seeing it win is a big enough bonus for me,” Afridi said.
“I am not thinking about the captaincy at this stage. I have just started training for the one-day series in Sri Lanka,” he added.
Afridi, who starred in Pakistan’s win in the twenty World Cup in England, also complained about the crammed international schedule.
“The players hardly got three days to rest and enjoy the victory with their fans before they had to fly to Sri Lanka because of the tight international scheduling these days, he said.
Afridi also felt there was a need to be careful with planning of T20 matches so that people don’t lose interest in it the game.
—–PTI