Captain of the Pakistan cricket team for limited overs, Shahid Afridi said that there will be no time for experiments in the team for the One Day Internationals against New Zealand which will be starting from 22January, 2011.
Afridi stated that his team will mould into the 50-over format very quickly and do well just as they did in the Test series.
The World Cup will kick off from February 2011 in the subcontinent and the Pakistani team is committed to do well in the mega event by preparing themselves through the six-match ODI series in New Zealand.
The Pakistan Cricket Board had announced the Test and Twenty20 team for the New Zealand series but did not announce the ODI squad and captain until recently.
This raised plenty of questions in the country and many former players and cricket experts criticised the decision by PCB. The Board has also taken another controversial step as the name of the World Cup captain has not been announced yet despite announcing the 15-member squad for the mega event.
The head coach of Pakistan cricket team Waqar Younis was also not pleased with the Board for the delay in naming the captain and said that the decision would only raise more issues. The PCB was not happy with Waqar’s comments and issued him a show-cause notice.
It is rumoured that the PCB might announce the name of the World Cup captain after the series against the Kiwis. Test captain Misbah-ul-Haq, who led Pakistan to a series win after four years, is a likely candidate to lead the side in the mega event starting from February.
Many former players including the legendary all-rounder Wasim Akram backed Afridi to lead the team in the World Cup but there are some doubts over his performance.
Earlier, the flamboyant all-rounder claimed that he will keep on representing his team as a senior member even if the Board decides to sack him from the leadership role.
