Shahid Afridi does not accompany his team to West Indies
Pakistan’s limited overs skipper, Shahid Afridi, did not accompany his team on their flight to the West Indies on April 14, 2011.
His absence from the team raised a variety of speculations, that he forgot his passport in Karachi, or, he has requested the board to leave later because he wanted to visit his father in Karachi, who is not feeling well.
Apart from Afridi, the entire Pakistani squad set off from Lahore airport to Qatar, from where they will be leaving for West Indies, via London.
“Afridi will now join the team after leaving later on Thursday from Karachi”, a board official said.
Not only this, the skipper also remained absent from the team’s last day in training camp, which also raised many questions. “Something may be wrong but no one is willing to speak about it”, a source told media.
In the recently concluded International Cricket Council (ICC) World Cup 2011, Afridi brilliantly led his team to the semi-final stage of the tournament. Under his captaincy Pakistan remained among the top performing teams of the tournament.
The skipper was the top performer of his team, claiming 21 wickets, which are highest in the tournament along with Indian pacer, Zaheer Khan, who reached the same figure after the final.
After Pakistan team’s ouster from the mega event by India in the semi-final at Mohali, the national selectors decided to introduce some new talent for the Caribbean tour.
Younis Khan, Abdul Razzaq, Kamran Akmal, and, Umar Gul, who were part of the mega event campaign, were sidelined, and Afridi revealed that selectors will come up with a different combination for the tour of Zimbabwe.
Before the team departed, manager Intikhab Alam, expressed hope that they will perform well and will come back home with a win.
The West Indies tour includes one Twenty20, two Tests and five One-Days. The warm-ups will start on 18th of April, while the tournament will start with the first Twenty20 on April, 21, 2011.
Pakistan will play Test matches under the captaincy of Misbah-ul-Haq.