Pakistan Cricket Board will try to persuade all-rounder Shahid Afridi to change his decision to withdraw from the Tests in view of the 2007 World Cup, failing which it will review his status in fresh Central Contract in July.
"We think he has taken an emotional decision because he has been playing Test cricket regularly now for the last one year. And we are going to speak to him about it and ask him to change his decision," PCB Chairman Shaharyar Khan said.
"But if he wants to skip Test matches then we've to see what sort of contract he should be given," Shaharyar was quoted as saying by The News.
The 26-year-old is currently in the category A of the Central Contracts gets a monthly retainer of 200,000 rupees.
"Because currently all the players to whom we've given contracts are available for Test and One-day International (ODI) cricket. Afridi is not an automatic choice for Tests but his availability is important for us," Shaharyar said.
The PCB chairman said he felt Afridi had taken the decision to play only ODIs under pressure after failing in a couple of matches.
{{/usCountry}}The PCB chairman said he felt Afridi had taken the decision to play only ODIs under pressure after failing in a couple of matches.
{{/usCountry}}"But the strange thing is that since making his announcement he has been under more pressure because everyone is saying he should also be available for Test matches."
Shaharyar said he would soon sit down with Afridi and sort things out before the England tour after also speaking to the captain (Inzamam-ul-Haq) and the coach (Bob Woolmer).
"He is a very good player and we want him for both forms of the game. We can't have players picking and choosing when and what they want to play," he added.