Asad Shafiq looks forward to PCB selector role after walking into sunset

Pakistan batter Asad Shafiq brought curtains down on his playing career on Sunday, December 12, after leading Karachi Whites to the National T20 Championship title.

Shafiq was given a guard of honour by his teammates as he walked out to the field as a professional cricketer for the last time. After his retirement, the 37-year-old seems set to join the Wahab Riaz-led selection panel of the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB).

"I have got the contract from the board and I am looking at it and hopefully it will be processed soon," Asad was quoted as saying by India Today.

Pakistan didn't have a great campaign in the recently concluded ODI World Cup 2023. They couldn't qualify for the semi-finals, and since then, a lot of changes have taken place in Pakistan cricket, hoping for a resurgence for one of the most decorated international teams in the sport. The inclusion of a recently-active player like Shafiq, in the selection panel, could bode well for the 'Men in Green' as he has seen most of the players in the country from close quarters.

After playing the last Test match in 2020, Shafiq spent three seasons in domestic cricket, trying to reclaim his spot in the side. However, he revealed that he had made up his mind on retirement prior to the comencement of this season.

"After being dropped in 2020 I kept on playing domestic cricket for three years yes in the hope of getting another crack at the Pakistan team. But before the start of this season I had decided this would be my last season because I felt that closing in on 38 years of age this was time to retire instead of people telling me to step down," Asad Shafiq said.

The right-handed batter scored 4,660 runs in 77 Test matches, at an average of 38.20. He couldn't find much success in the white-ball formats where he played 60 ODIs and 10 T20Is. Shafiq was one of the players who navigated Pakistan through the tumultuous times following the infamous spot-fixing scandal in 2010.

After the spot-fixing scandal in 2010, it was a very difficult time for Pakistan cricket and I am happy I was part of that process where we won back the confidence of the people in our team," he added.