Afridi gives in; rolls back on Test retirement

Lahore, Apr 27 (UNI) Under pressure from all sides, Shahid Afridi has rolled back on his decision to retire from the Test cricket following his talks with PCB chairman Shaharyar Khan.

The allrounder faced everything from coaxing to coercing by the board after he decided, a fortnight back, to retire the longer version of the game to ''concentrate more on the one-dayers''.

''Afridi agreed to respond to the PCB chairman's call and dedicated himself to the success of the team,'' an official statement said.

''Afridi spoke with Mr (Shaharyar) Khan who, after a long discussion, convinced him his decision wasn't in his own interest or that of the team,'' a PCB spokesman told newspersons.

Interestingly, the PCB had earlier indicated that the board might ''review'' Afridi's Grade One contract if the allrounder did not make himself available for the selection to the series in England.

The Pakistan Cricket Board, meanwhile, said it would look into the matters that led Afridi to his earlier decision.

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