Shahid Afridi

Faisalabad: Pakistan’s Shahid Afridi said he was keen to take on his old role of opening the innings in the one-day series against South Africa. He has been batting lower down the order over the last few months and opened only once against Bangladesh in the World Twenty20 last month, scoring 30-odd runs.

“I have told my captain and coach that I am willing to open the innings if the team wants it. But if they feel the team requirement is I bat lower down the order I have no problems with that as well,” he said.

Afridi said he was keen to open again because of the problem Pakistan were facing at this position. “I feel comfortable batting as an opener because it gives me the freedom of playing with the field restrictions.”

Afridi said he was looking forward to the Indian tour and would be available for Tests and one-dayers. The allrounder had skipped the Tests against South Africa saying he wanted to take a break from the game to attend to some personal and family commitments.