Dismay in Pakistan after former captain Shahid Afridi announces decision to draw stumps on career

Dismay in Pakistan after former captain Shahid Afridi announces decision to draw stumps on career
from correspondents in Lahore, Pakistan
AFP May 31, 2011 10:21PM
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Shahid Afridi ... 'I will not play under this set-up of the PCB which has treated players roughly.' Source: AAMIR QURESHI / AFP
Pakistan greats expressed dismay at Shahid Afridi's shock decision to quit international cricket, as officials said the "doors are open" for the influential all-rounder's return.

Former captain Rashid Latif urged the government to resolve the problem of the national team losing top players after Afridi, who was stripped of the one-day captaincy after a spat with authorities, retired.

"His decision to retire, after people like Younis Khan and Mohammad Yousuf left, should be treated as a serious issue and I demand the Pakistan government to form a committee and solve this," said Latif.

Former skipper Wasim Akram, under whom Afridi developed in the 1990s, called the development "sad" and said Pakistan had become a standing joke in cricket circles.

"It is sad and will hurt Pakistan cricket badly," said Wasim.
"Just last month Afridi was showered with praise after he took Pakistan to the World Cup 2011 semi-final, given cash awards and suddenly this happened."

Afridi, 31, stood down from international duty after a row with the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) over critical comments about coach Waqar Younis after this year's World Cup, when the team reached the semi-finals.

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"I am dejected and hurt and whatever I said about the coach it was in the best interest of the team," he said.

"I will not play under this set-up of the PCB which has treated players roughly."

PCB chairman Ijaz Butt insisted Afridi, known as one of cricket's most destructive limited-overs batsmen, would be welcomed back if he chose to reverse his decision.

Afridi, who retired from Tests last year, was already hugely popular for his muscular batting and leg-spin, and had won rave reviews for uniting Pakistan after last year's spot-fixing scandal and taking them to the World Cup semis.

MAR DHAR

Waqar quiet on Afridi talk 

Coach Waqar Younis has refused to speculate on the possibility of Shahid Afridi returning as Pakistan's limited overs captain.

Afridi was stripped of the captaincy on the eve of this weekend's two one-day internationals against Ireland in Belfast after allegedly claiming interference from Pakistan Cricket Board officials in team selection.
The all-rounder is due to face a meeting with the PCB to explain his comments, although the governing body have denied his demotion came as a result of them.
Afridi was widely lauded after leading Pakistan to the semi-finals of the World Cup in March but, after pulling out of the Ireland series to be with his sick father, question marks remain around his future role with the national side.
"I have got no idea about that. It is the Cricket Board's decision what they want to do about the captaincy," Waqar said on Friday.
"My job is to look after the team and to deliver the goods.
"It's tough to say anything about it."
Waqar also denied reports he had fallen out with Afridi, after claims the all-rounder had also been unhappy with his role with the team.
"It was the papers that made all this," he added. "There is nothing in it."
Waqar was more concerned with his team's preparations ahead of tomorrow's opening match against an Ireland team he is wary of following their World Cup exploits.
Waqar pointed to Ireland's stunning success over England on the sub-continent as reason to be on guard as he aims to maintain his side's motivation for a series that has followed hot on the heels of a tour of the Caribbean.
"They are a good side. They are young, they are very enthusiastic," he added.
"They chased 300-plus against England. Who thought they could do that?
"They are a very positive side and they are big fighters. We have to play really well."
Waqar is also fearful of literally being caught cold by the Irish after his side flew in from the balmy temperatures in the West Indies only yesterday.
"Coming from 35-40 degrees with a lot of humidity there and coming into this weather it is hard to adjust, especially with all those flights as well," added Waqar, who also pledged to play a full-strength team.
"I think we are professional enough to adapt to the conditions very quickly.
"We know what Ireland are capable of. They are a very tough opponent. We have to be very, very careful."
The Pakistan coach also backed calls, led by the Irish, for the International Cricket Council to backtrack on their decision not to include associate nations at the next World Cup in Australia.
The ICC's chief executive committee is due to discuss the possibility of introducing a qualification process at a meeting in Hong Kong next month.
Waqar believes Ireland would be fully deserving if a decision was made to allow them a route back into the 2015 World Cup.
"Just looking at the last World Cup, because I haven't seen much of their cricket outside that, but there they played like champions. It was top-level cricket," he said.
"The ICC have got a different ruling but I personally believe they have a good side and they are getting better day by day."

PCB confirms Afridi's Ireland tour absence


LAHORE - Pakistan will be without former captain Shahid Afridi for their two one-day internationals in Ireland because his father is ill, said a statement issued by the Pakistan Cricket Board on Wednesday.
Afridi will now not be involved at all for the two games against Ireland at Stormont on Saturday and next Monday due to his father's illness, a PCB spokesman said. "Afridi informed us his father has been admitted to hospital for liver treatment and he wants to be with him," the spokesman added.
The 31-year-old all-rounder was only last week replaced as one-day captain by Test skipper Misbah-ul-Haq, despite guiding Pakistan to the semi-finals of the World Cup and a 3-2 series victory in the West Indies.
It was thought Afridi's criticism of the team's management after the series in the Caribbean was the reason for his demotion, but the PCB insisted the decision was in line with their policy of appointing a captain "on a series to series basis".

INTERVIEW OF SHAHID AFRIDI

                                                             
                                                                                                           

  

MUMBAI: World Cup runners-up Sri Lanka contributed four players and champions India just three to the International Cricket Council’s team of the tournament announced on Sunday.
India defeated fellow tournament co-hosts Sri Lanka by six wickets at the Wankhede Stadium on Saturday, with captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni making a man-of-the-match winning 91 not out.
But the ICC’s five-man panel of experts, looking at the World Cup as a whole, opted for Sri Lanka captain Kumar Sangakkara as skipper.
The other Sri Lankans in the team were dashing opener Tillakaratne Dilshan, Mahela Jayawardene and veteran off-spinner Muttiah Muralitharan, who made his final international appearance.
India’s trio were Sachin Tendulkar, a World Cup winner at the sixth attempt, all-rounder Yuvraj Singh — the man of the tournament — and left-arm quick Zaheer Khan.
Khan was the tournament’s joint most-successful bowler with 21 wickets alongside Pakistan leg-spinner and captain Shahid Afridi.
The global govering body’s all-star XI was completed by the South Africa duo of batsman/keeper AB de Villiers and fast bowler Dale Steyn and Australia all-rounder Shane Watson.
ICC’s team of the World Cup (in batting order):
Sachin Tendulkar (IND), Tillakaratne Dilshan (SRI), Kumar Sangakkara (SRI, capt/wkt), Mahela Jayawardene (SRI), AB de Villiers (RSA), Yuvraj Singh (IND), Shane Watson (AUS), Shahid Afridi (PAK), Dale Steyn (RSA), Zaheer Khan (IND), Muttiah Muralitharan (SRI)
12th man: Tim Southee (NZL)

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KARACHI: Former Pakistan captain Ramiz Raja has warned that if a skipper is not given the required freedom to lead the team, sooner or later the management is bound to collapse.

The differences between current ODI skipper Shahid Afridi and coach Waqar Younis have made the headlines in the past few days.

"The game was designed around the captain and by fiddling with its dynamics, the managements are running the risk of inviting disaster. The concept may sound archaic, but it holds firm even on Monday.

"The players must have one-man to report to and take command from otherwise their quarters will invite selfish interests and politics as long term guests," Raja wrote in his column in the 'Dawn' daily newspaper.

"The more clear-cut the chain of command, the more effective the decision-making process and greater the efficiency. So I am not at all surprised when I hear captain Afridi foul mouthing the coach for meddling in his business, or the coach, cribbing about selectors, for undermining his team's chances with poor selection because if you get the order mixed up, things are bound to turn ugly," he wrote.

The PCB put Afridi on notice for giving statements in the media that suggested he was not happy with Waqar's undue interference in his work in the team.

Afridi is believed to have developed serious differences Waqar over selection matters during the West Indies tour.

Despite being tipped to outclass the troubled and under-strength West Indies side in the series, Pakistan lost the sole T20 match and managed to win the one-day series 3-2.

In a bigger shock they lost the low scoring first Test on Sunday.

Ramiz said the Pakistan dressing room needs a culture change.

"It won't come from computers or an army of technical team, but with an environment which facilitates bright discussions about the game and character building. A captain has to drive home that theme, hard enough to enthuse the players and all the stakeholders to put shoulder to the wheel.

"The mission should be to groom players to think on their feet, and turn out cricket recruits who are able to read situations smartly," he wrote.

Personal life

Afridi is from the Afridi tribe of the Khyber Agency in the Federally Administered Tribal Areas and hails from a Pashtun family.^[2] He is married and has two daughters, Aqsa and Ansha.^{[5]
ICC 20 20}

Shortly after Pakistan won the 2009 ICC World Twenty20 the captain Younis Khan announced his retirement from Twenty20 cricket the Pakistan Cricket Board subsequently announced that Shahid Afridi had taken over as captain in T20Is; the appointment was initially for one match, with a decision on the permanent replacement to be made later.^[37] On 31 January 2010, Afridi was caught on camera biting into the ball towards the end of the 5th Commonwealth Bank ODI series in Australia.^[38] Later Afridi pleaded guilty to ball tampering and he was banned from two Twenty20 internationals.^[39]
In March 2010 the board announced that Shahid Afridi had been appointed ODI captain in place of the sacked Mohammad Yousuf he led Pakistan in the 2010 Asia Cup and during his first three matches as ODI captain he scored two centuries against Sri Lanka and Bangladesh he finished as the tournaments highest runscorer with 384 runs from 3 matches.
On 25 May 2010, Afridi was appointed captain of the national team in all three formats, after he announced his return to Test cricket.^[40] In July 2010, Afridi captained Pakistan in the first Test of the series at Lord's against England. He scored 31 off 15 deliveries in the first innings and 2 in the second but was dismissed succumbing to rash strokes in both the innings. After the match, he announced retirement from Test cricket again citing lack of temperament for Test cricket as the reason.^[41] Afridi was officially removed from the Test squad on the England tour, but after the spot-fixing scandal saw Mohammad Asif, Mohammad Amir and Test captain Salman Butt temporarily suspended by the International Cricket Council, he stated that he might return to Test cricket if "the team needs it".^[42] According a representative of Afridi, he had voiced his concerns about Mazhar Majeed – who had approached Pakistan's players – in June.^[43] Majeed also confirmed that he approached Afridi, Abdul Razzaq, Younis Khan and Saeed Ajmal but all off them refused to be affiliated with him of his fixing menace. Worth mentioning is that the four names given above were not associated in the original scandal and that no disciplinary action have been taken against them by the sports governing body the International Cricket Council.^[44]
In October, Afridi stated in an interview with Express News that the squad had been selected without his consultation; the PCB gave him an official warning for the interview.^[45] Coach Waqar Younis also expressed his unhappiness at having no input in selection, however Mohsin Khan, the chief selector, defended the decision, stating "it is not written down in the PCB constitution that the coach and captain(s) must have a say in the selection of any squad".^[46] Pakistan lost the series 3-2.
The team toured New Zealand between December 2010 and February 2011 for two Tests, six ODIs, and three T20Is. Pakistan lost the first two T20Is but won the third; in final match Afridi became the first cricketer to reach 50 international wickets in the format.^[47] When Pakistan's squad for the 2011 World Cup was announced no captain was named; Afridi, the incumbent ODI captain and Misbah-ul-Haq, the Test captain, were the front runners for the position.^[48] Pakistan lost the first match against New Zealand by 8-wickets, the second match got rained out and in the third Mohammad Hafeez scored a century and Afridi scored a blistering 65 from just 25 balls. The following match was a tight game but Pakistan prevailed by two-wickets thanks to three boundaries from Sohail Tanvir, the match was setup by a 93 not out from Misbah-ul-Haq. The fifth ODI was won for Pakistan by 43 runs courtesy of a maiden ODI-century from Ahmed Shehzad. Afridi helped in the lower order by scoring 24 and taking two crucial top order wickets to help guide Pakistan to a 43-run victory and their first ODI series win in two years.^[49]
After gaining victory as a captain against New Zealand, the PCB declared Shahid Afridi as Pakistan's captain for the 2011 World Cup. In Pakistan's opening match of the tournament, Afridi took 5 wickets for 16 runs against Kenya, giving him the best bowling figures by a Pakistan bowler in a World Cup.^[50] In the following match against Sri Lanka, which Pakistan won, Afridi claimed for more wickets to help his side to victory and became the second player to have scored 4,000 runs and taken 300 wickets in ODIs.^{[51][nb 2]} He claimed 17 wickets from 6 matches in the first round of the Cup, including a five-wicket haul against Canada,^[52] as Pakistan finished top of their group and progressed to the next stage.^[53] Pakistan beat West Indies in the quarter-final by ten wickets, with Afridi taking four wickets.^[54] Pakistan were knocked out of the semi-finals in a 29-run defeat to India.^[55] Afridi was the tournament's joint-leading wicket-taker with 21 wickets, level with India's Zaheer Khan, even though Afridi had played one match less than him.^[56]

Shahid Afridi

Sahibzada Mohammad Shahid Khan Afridi (Urdu: صاحبزادہ محمد شاہد خان آفریدی) (born 1 March 1980 in Khyber Agency of the Federally Administered Tribal Areas, Pakistan[2]), popularly known as Shahid Afridi (Pashto: شاهد ‏افریدی) is a Pakistani cricketer and current One Day International (ODI) and Twenty20 captain of the Pakistani national team in the international circuit. He made his ODI debut on 2 October 1996 against Kenya and his Test debut on 22 October 1998 against Australia.

He is known for his aggressive batting style, and holds the record for the fastest ODI century which he made in his first international innings, as well as scoring 32 runs in a single over, the second highest scoring over ever in an ODI.[3] He also holds the distinction of having hit the most number of sixes in the history of ODI cricket.[4] Afridi considers himself a better bowler than batsman, and has taken 48 Test wickets and over 300 in ODIs. Currently Afridi is the leading wicket taker in the Twenty20 format taking 53 wickets from 43 matches.

In June 2009 Afridi took over the Twenty20 captaincy from Younus Khan, and was later appointed ODI captain for the 2010 Asia Cup. In his first match as ODI captain against Sri Lanka he scored a century however Pakistan still lost by 16 runs. He then also took over the Test captaincy but resigned after one match in charge citing lack of form and ability to play Test cricket; at the same time he announced his retirement from Tests. He retained the captaincy in limited-overs form of the game and led the team in the 2011 World Cup. Amongst his highlights while captaining Pakistan include leading the team to their first ODI series win in two-years, against New Zealand