Afridi takes hiatus from Test cricket

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Karachi: Flamboyant batsman Shahid Afridi has told Pakistani selectors not to consider him for Test matches until next year's cricket World Cup saying that he wants to concentrate on the one-day and Twenty20 formats.

"There is a lot of international cricket being played these days and I think it is better if I focus on these two forms of the game in the period leading up to the World Cup," Afridi said.

Afridi, who last played a Test in July, 2006 in England, said the next two years were very important for Pakistan cricket with the T20 and 50-over World Cups lined up.

"I would love to see our team winning both competitions and I feel we have the potential to do this," the spin all- rounder told the Jung newspaper.

Afridi said not playing Test matches would help him stay fresh for the T20 and ODI matches. He has played 285 ODIs compared to just 26 Tests in his career which began in 1997.

The national selectors have already omitted him from the Test squad announced for the upcoming tour of New Zealand and named him captain of the T20 side until the next T20 World Cup in the West Indies.

He also dismissed reports of differences with captain Younis Khan.