Pakistan pace spearhead Shaheen Shah Afridi is 90 per cent ready for the upcoming T20 World Cup but his availability will depend on how he plays in the two warm-up games in Australia, PCB (Pakistan Cricket Board) chairman Ramiz Raja said.
The 22-year-old Afridi is set to join the national team in Australia on Saturday after completing his rehabilitation programme for a knee injury under the supervision of the PCB Medical Advisory Committee.
He will be available for selection for the warm-up games against England and Afghanistan on October 17 and 19, respectively.
“I have spoken to him we are in touch with his doctors and the feedback we have got is he is 90 percent ready,” Raja said.
“But knee injuries can be delicate and technical and we have to see if he feels any soreness after playing the warm-up games. On his part he says he is ready and I think we are also ready.”
Pakistan will begin its campaign against India on October 23 at the Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG).
“I will say this that the mechanics of the World Cup are such that even as an independent observer I can say with confidence that our team can become the champions. We have a very good outfit.”
The former Test captain said his ambition as board Chairman remained to make Pakistan the number one team in all three formats.
There have been calls for separating the opening pair of Mohammad Rizwan and Babar Azam but Raja made it clear there was no need to make any such move.
“I am surprised we talk about separating them when the talking point for any team is having a solid opening pair. The three make points for a team to be successful is to have a good opening pair and we also have good bowlers.
“Yes the team does disappoint us sometimes but they have a 75 percent success ratio which is why fans and our commercial partners are engaging with them. There are issues with the middle-order but I don’t see any reason to change something which has worked for us until now.”
The PCB chief said that the ongoing Pakistan Junior League (PJL) and the planned women’s league were part of a process to produce wholesome players and ambassadors of the game and also to strengthen the structure for women’s and junior cricket.
“There is a lot of interest in the PJL and women’s league even from abroad and I have seen the PJL matches and have already seen one or two players who can even now play directly for Pakistan.”
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