Former Pakistan captain hits out at Shahid Afridi for adding PJL players into senior team

Former Pakistan captain Salman Butt has lashed out at Shahid Afridi for adding three Pakistan Junior League (PJL) players to the national team for the Test series against New Zealand. Afridi was recently named the interim chief of selectors for the Men's Team by the newly-appointed PCB chairman Najam Sethi. After taking over the role, Afridi added three players from the Pakistan Junior League to the Test side for the ongoing series against New Zealand. 

Butt slams Afridi

Even as Afridi announced that the three players will not be available for selection, he received a lot of criticism for the decision. Salman Butt is among those who lashed out at the former Pakistan all-rounder for adding the youngsters to the national side without any first-class experience. The three players added to the Pakistan squad are all-rounder Arafat Minhas, top-order batter Basit Ali and right-arm fast bowler Mohammad Zeeshan. 

Speaking about the decision to add PJL players to the national team, Butt slammed Afridi, saying that there shouldn't be any place for cricketers in the Pakistan dressing room who have only performed in T20s. Butt stated that only players who have performed at the first-class level deserve to be in the Pakistan Test squad. Butt also cited BCCI's latest decision on selection criteria for emerging players, where they are required to play a substantial domestic season before being eligible for selection to the national team.  

“BCCI says that in emerging category, you need to have a substantiated domestic experience. But what happens here? You will get into the team through PJL. That was the mindset. Even now, you are sending boys from PJL to Pakistan's dressing room for an ‘experience’. Remember, Pakistan's Test match dressing room is the right of a first-class performer, it has nothing to do with performances in T20s across any age group. You need to look at that,” Butt said on his official YouTube channel.

PJL or Pakistan Junior League was a tournament started by former Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) chairman Ramiz Raja in 2022. The tournament was scrapped after Najam Sethi replaced Raja as the new chairman of the PCB. Afridi, who was a mentor of one of the teams in PJL, added three players to the Test side for experience after being appointed the interim chief selector of the men's team by Sethi last month. 

Image: AP