We are not producing quality cricketers, says Afridi

36-year-old says abundance of first-class cricketers has ruined standard of cricket in Pakistan

ISLAMABAD: Former Pakistan T20 captain Shahid Afridi on Wednesday said the country is not producing fine cricketers as it did in the past, shifting the focus from quality to quantity.

Speaking to a local news channel, the 36-year-old said the management should aim for quality cricketers. “Instead of going after quantity, we should concentrate on quality to meet international standards,” he said.

Afridi, who resigned from captaincy after the national team’s poor performance in World T20, said today there are a lot of first-class cricketers, whereas, in his time playing in first-class cricket was more difficult than playing for Pakistan.



“Granting of caps to a large number of cricketers has run counter to the efforts of producing quality players,” he said.

Hailing the good old days of Pakistan cricket, the former T20 captain praised the domestic setup of 1980s and 1990s, during which the national team prospered at the international level. “Now our team is not the one it used to be at the time of players like Imran Khan. Back then there were several stars, but now we just see two or three star performers,” he said.



Afridi also said that the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) should search for talented players in areas of the country which are notable for producing fine cricketers. “We should look for players in those places of the country where we used to get talented cricketers from in the past,” he said.

Playing his own part in the development of sport in Pakistan, the 36-year-old said that he hopes to establish cricket academies to give a chance to youngsters. “My aim is to set up as many academies as possible for youngsters,” he said.



Speaking about his "more loved in India than Pakistan" statement in World T20, Afridi said that his statement was for the ‘educated people’, but some former players made it into an issue.