Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) has decided to send a member of selection committee with the side for their tours of Australia and Zimbabwe.
A core member of the selection committee, Asad Shafiq will coordinate with newly appointed white ball captain Mohammad Rizwan and interim white ball coach Jason Gillespie on deciding the playing XI’s over the course of the tour.
While the numbers from his playing days are not exactly astronomical, Asad Shafiq was a steady presence on Pakistan’s Test side, racking up 4660 runs across 77 matches in the format and posting an average of 38. In Australia, Shafiq managed 381 runs across 5 matches, featuring 3 50s and one century.
Shafiq, along with others in the staff, will be cautiously optimistic. While Australia has not been a happy hunting ground for Pakistan as of late, the recent series win against their arch rivals England has surely boosted confidence.
There will be many a keen eye on the returning trio of Babar Azam, Naseem Shah and Shaheen Shah Afridi, and Shafiq, who played alongside Babar for quite a lot of matches, will be acutely monitoring his reintroduction into the side.
There will also be a sharp focus on some of the younger names in the squad. With Arafat Minhas, Irfan Khan Niazi and Faisal Akram receiving call-ups, it will be interesting to see how much game time is awarded to the youngsters.
