England tour will test mettle of star-studded coaching panel: Shahid Afridi.

KARACHI -- Last Saturday Shahid Afridi tweeted that he had tested positive for Covid-19. In the next few days, a rumour mill began with speculations about him suffering from a critical infection which later turned into darker rumours that he has passed away.

"May God protect others from the wrath of social media (Allah sub ko social media say bachai)," Afridi told media in a telephonic conversation.

"I don't know how such rumours spread. I'm getting hundreds of calls and messages from concerned well-wishers from all over the world. To all of them my message is that I'm recovering from Covid-19 and am already looking forward to returning to my social work," he said.

To prove that he was now fully back in his element, Afridi even agreed to answer my questions on the current state of Pakistan cricket and on the upcoming tour of England.

'For Pakistan, every tour of England is very important,' he said. 'Even though the focus these days is on coronavirus, once the series against England will begin, it will become a talking point.

'So I must say that even in current circumstances the tour carries a lot of importance for the Pakistan team,' he stressed.

Pakistan have announced an extended 29-man squad for the tour of England where Pakistan will play three Tests and an equal number of Twenty20 Internationals during July-August.

Earlier this month, the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) roped in former captain Younis Khan as batting coach and legendary legspinner Musthaq Ahmed as spin bowling coach for the tour of England.

'It's a good decision,' said Afridi. 'I mean both Younis Khan and Mushy bhai (Mushtaq) are legendary players. Both of them have excellent records in England.'

However, Afridi said that the real worth of Pakistan's big 15-man squad of officials spearheaded by head coach Misbah-ul-Haq will be seen if the team finds the going tough against England.

'It's easy to coach a team that's winning...