Afridi chases selection changes

Shahid Afridi has called for a more cohesive selection policy in future after Pakistan's World Twenty20 title defence moved closer to an early end. Pakistan lost their second Super Eight match on Saturday when New Zealand stole a one-run victory in Barbados, leaving them needing a miracle to qualify for the semi-finals out of Group E.

Afridi is leading a squad that is missing some senior players after a clear-out that followed their tumultuous tour of Australia. The former captains Younis Khan, who was in charge when Pakistan won this event last year, Mohammad Yousuf and Shoaib Malik were banned along with Rana Naved-ul-Hasan.

"We are coming out from a very difficult time after the New Zealand and Australia tours," Afridi said. "The selection committee picks the team for us and first they announce the team before naming the captain and coach. Maybe in the future we can all sit together and pick a good bunch of guys."

The missing strike-power has been a concern and Pakistan had scores of 157 and 147 in their losses to Australia and England. Batting was again a problem as they fell a run short of New Zealand's 133, despite Salman Butt's unbeaten 67 off 54 balls.

Afridi's lack of runs has added to the worries and his 11 against New Zealand took his series tally to 53 in four matches. "My performance is always very key as captain but this time I haven't performed so maybe that's why we haven't had a good result," Afridi said. Pakistan's final Super Eight game is against South Africa in St Lucia on Monday.