Pakistan cricket talks mend captaincy crisis after Afridi row

KARACHI, APRIL 2: Pakistan Cricket Board chairman Mohsin Naqvi on Monday held crisis talks to resolve the row after sacked captain Shaheen Shah Afridi denied quotes backing his successor.

Afridi, replaced by Babar Azam as skipper on Sunday, insisted he had not made comments backing his replacement that were quoted in a PCB statement.

On Monday, the PCB said Naqvi "held a meeting with the selection committee to talk about the teams selection ahead of the New Zealand T20I series".
"The meeting was also attended by captain Azam," the PCB added without mentioning any separate meeting with Afridi.

However sources confirmed to AFP any confusion after Afridis statement denial had been removed and the former captain was shown shaking hands with Naqvi in a picture released by the PCB.

Twenty-nine Pakistan players are attending a training camp at army base Kakul in the Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa province ahead of a five-match T20I home series against New Zealand starting from April 18.

The row developed following a PCB statement saying Afridi had "nothing but respect" for returning skipper Azam.

"As a team player, it is my duty to back our captain, Babar Azam. I have played under his captaincy and have nothing but respect for him," he was reported to have said.

"I will try to help him both on and off the field. We are all one. Our aim is the same, to help Pakistan become the best team in the world."    —AFP