Speculation has been rife recently surrounding the future of Shahid Afridi and whether he will make a comeback to test cricket after a four year absence.

 By Saj Sadiq

22nd May 2010

Speculation has been rife recently surrounding the future of Shahid Afridi and whether he will make a comeback to test cricket after a four year absence.

Some media sources have quoted Afridi as saying that he is retiring from test cricket for good, whilst other media sources are quoting Afridi as saying that he is available to play for Pakistan in all three formats of the game.

Confusion is therefore the order of the day at the moment as the Pakistan cricket team looks to rebuild after the disastrous tour of Australia, the subsequent player punishments and bannings by the Board and then the video leak of witness statements at the hearings that were set up to investigate the tour of Australia.

PakPassion.net has learnt that Shahid Afridi is due to meet PCB officials including the chairman Ijaz Butt on Monday to discuss his future plans, ahead of the Asia Cup in Sri Lanka and then the prolonged tour of England from July to September.

The agenda of the meeting is believed to centre on Afridi's availability for the entire series in England, or whether he will only make himself available for the Twenty/20 matches and one day internationals against Australia and England. 

Afridi has continuously maintained that he has been available for test cricket throughout his career, but was not chosen by the selectors. 

It is believed that his stance at the meeting will be one where he once again declares himself available for test cricket.

PakPassion.net reported yesterday that Afridi is being lined up as skipper for the Asia Cup and if he is once again brought into the test squad, then there is a high probability that he is chosen as captain for the test team also.