Pakistan’s T20 skipper Shahid Afridi on Wednesday hinted at reconsidering his decision to retire after the World T20 in India.
Afridi, 35, said he is under “a lot of pressure” from family, friends and elders who believe “there is no need to retire from T20s”.
“For a while now there is a lot of pressure from my family, a lot of pressure from my friends, including my elders, who say there is no need for me to retire from T20. That is a huge pressure. For now, in truth, I am focusing only on the World Cup. That is a huge challenge for me,” Afridi toldESPNcricinfo in a report published today.
Afridi, along with Test captain Misbah-ul-Haq, retired from one-day internationals following Pakistan’s 2015 World Cup outing Down Under.
Misbah continue to lead Pakistan in Tests and Afridi in T20s. But the 35-year-old all-rounder had announced to quit all forms of international cricket after the World T20 in India.
“First I want to see where Pakistan stand in the World Cup. Whether I am capable of taking the team forward on the back of my performances.
“I want to check where I am standing myself. As far as playing goes my fitness is zabardast (awesome). Energy is also there. I can play cricket. But I would be able to tell things clearly after the World Twenty20,” Afridi said.
Afridi, who has played 27 Tests, 398 ODIs and 90 Twenty20 internationals for Pakistan, said that he is under high pressure to continue playing cricket as “there is no real talent coming through Pakistan”.
“There is a lot of pressure on me that I shouldn’t retire from T20. That I can play on, and as such there is no real talent coming through in Pakistan whose place I am taking,” Afridi was quoted as saying.
Afridi has been a permanent member for Pakistan in the T20s and has played all the World T20 editions held so far.
In the Pakistan Super League (PSL), where he was the captain of the franchise Peshawar Zalmi, he ended up as the second highest wicket-taker for his team, with 10 wickets.
However, his performance with the bat remained dismal as he managed to score only 87 runs in seven innings.
The World T20, set to be held in India, kicks off on March 8 with a qualifying round for the associate teams, while the Super 10 round commences from March 16.
Re: Afridi: 'There is no real talent coming through in Pakistan whose place I am taki
Nothing but a self-worshipping.. says a lot about him.
His total # of runs in all worldcups is still less than Misbah's average.
As far as hitting is concerned, i'm sure once in 30 matches anyone can hit. Yes he can be a handy bowler but why not we include a regular spinner then?
Nawaz is the best replacement of Afridi so I'm sure his time to move over is approaching soon.
But looking at the following,
[QUOTE]
Afridi, 35, said he is under “a lot of pressure” from family, friends and elders who believe “there is no need to retire from T20s”.
[/QUOTE]
Re: Afridi: 'There is no real talent coming through in Pakistan whose place I am taki
Afridi should've been kicked out of team a decade ago.
One of our problem is if someone makes a good knock in their first few matches, we hold onto that performance for far too long. He has played close to 400 ODIs and yet has not learned an iota about batting.
Our selection panel should select batsmen not just on basis of how many runs they've scored, but also by HOW they have scored those runs. Priority should be given to batsmen who have scored most runs via 4's and running between wicket, rather than hitting sixers. Most of our batsmen nowadays just try to hit the ball for a six when they need to score fast.
Unfortunately our selectors dont seem to use the technology wisely when selecting batsmen. Players like Ahmad Shehzad and Umar Akmal who hit the ball far too much in the air and quite frequently straight to fielders keep getting selected.
Re: Afridi: 'There is no real talent coming through in Pakistan whose place I am taki
Nothing but a self-worshipping.. says a lot about him.
His total # of runs in all worldcups is still less than Misbah's average.
As far as hitting is concerned, i'm sure once in 30 matches anyone can hit. Yes he can be a handy bowler but why not we include a regular spinner then?
*Nawaz is the best replacement of Afridi so I'm sure his time to move over is approaching soon.
*
But looking at the following,
How cute, Aint he our Altaf bhai of Cricket?! :D
Nawaz is NOT going to be the first guy who will be screwed by this guy if he does decide to not retire.
I have personally spoken with Hammad Azam 4 years ago and he told me when he was selected for the **T20WC 2010 **and not given any chances in that tournament someone told him that Afridi does not rate Hammad as a cricketer.
Same year (Jan 2010) Raza had impressed everyone with his left arm bowling and was taken to last part of Eng tour of 2010...Afridi did not give him any chance either.
Next year around Sep 2011...Afghanistan toured Pak and played 3 ODI series with Pak-A. I was super impressed with Yasir Shah as an all rounder who also was a great fielder (the 2011 Yasir shah was a much better fielder than what yasir the 2015 test cricketer was). I think he was given a game or two in Zimb but disregarded and not given more chances by Afridi. If it was not for Ajmal getting banned...Yasir Shah may have not been in the team even in 2014-15
Another example is how he didnt play Ajmal in the round games of WC2011. Had he played Ajmal in the early games.....He would have taken a chunk of wickets but as history will tell you and Afridi's idiot fanboys always tell you that he was the highest wicket taker for Pak in 2011WC. It was not an accident. That man is beyond cunning and will do whatever it takes to abuse his captaincy power to keep more deserving players out of limelight if he feels that they will threat him as a player.
These are just a few names that afridi has screwed just to keep his own spot safe in the team. I said that years ago on KK that afridi is the cancer for Pak cricket who does more harm to Paka cricket than it benifits... I fully believe in it till today and if he decides not to retire...consider it as bad news for Pak.
Re: Afridi: 'There is no real talent coming through in Pakistan whose place I am taki
Means misery of Pakistan cricket will continue...
Board should make a criteria for selecting.. and that should be something on the average of last 10 performance and not what somebody does once in a blue moon or 100 years ago....
Re: Afridi: 'There is no real talent coming through in Pakistan whose place I am taki
If he performs well . No one is there to stop him but if he perform avg specially as bowler board to remove him. Things will be much simple n better if our board n selection committee is doing their job on merit.
Re: Afridi: 'There is no real talent coming through in Pakistan whose place I am taki
[RIGHT]اری کرکٹ ٹیم کا المیہ یہ ہے کہ شاہد آفریدی جیسا چھچھورا اس ٹیم کا کیپٹن ہے محمد حفیظ، عمراکمل اور شعیب ملک جیسے اوسط سے بھی کم درجے کے سفارشی بیٹسمین اس ٹیم کی بیٹنگ کے ستون ہیں۔ اور وقار یونس جیسا ماضی کا بدنام جواری ٹیم کا کوچ ہے جو سومن چوہے کھاکر کبھی مولانا طارق جمیل کے ہاتھوں حلقہ بگوش اسلام ہوکر مچھ مُنی داڑھی رکھ لیتا ہے اور کبھی کلین شیو شہری بابو بن جاتا ہے۔ جیسے تیسے کرکے انڈیا کے خلاف بس ایک چھکا لگانے کی دیر ہے آپ اگلے پانچ برسوں کے لیے ٹیم کے کپتان ہیں اور سیاہ و سفید کے مالک بھی۔ میاں داد نے شارجہ میں چھکا لگایا اور اس کے کئی سال بعد ٹیم کو ورلڈ کپ بھی جتوا دیا۔ شاہد آفریدی نے اسی انڈیا کے خلاف چھکا لگایا اور ٹیم کا کپتان بن کر آج تک اسے شکشت کی دھول چٹوا رہا ہے۔ کرکٹ کو سیاست سے الگ اور مولانا طارق جمیل کے چُنگل سے آزاد کروایے۔ کارکردگی اور ڈسپلن کو سیلیکشن کا واحد معیار بنایے پھر دیکھیے ہم بڑے ایوینٹس میں انڈیا سے کیسے نہیں جیتتے۔[/RIGHT]
Re: Afridi: 'There is no real talent coming through in Pakistan whose place I am taki
In Pakistan you are still producing decent enough bowlers because the young generation of bowlers still have likes of Imran Khan, Wasim. Waqar as their idols.
For batters, this stupidly excessive glorification of 'Boom Boom' style of brain dead batting means your young cricketers want to be the next Shahid Afridi, not Inzimam, Miandad, Yousuf, Saeed Anwar or Zaheer Abbas.
Why would young Pakistani batters fix their techniques when they know it is ultimately 'Shahid bhai' who gets all the lucrative sponsors and media attention for hitting occasional sixes? So naturally they'll try to emulate him to share fame with him.
Re: Afridi: 'There is no real talent coming through in Pakistan whose place I am taki
**In Pakistan you are still producing decent enough bowlers because the young generation of bowlers still have likes of Imran Khan, Wasim. Waqar as their idols.
For batters, this stupidly excessive glorification of 'Boom Boom' style of brain dead batting means your young cricketers want to be the next Shahid Afridi, not Inzimam, Miandad, Yousuf, Saeed Anwar or Zaheer Abbas.
Why would young Pakistani batters fix their techniques when they know it is ultimately 'Shahid bhai' who gets all the lucrative sponsors and media attention for hitting occasional sixes? So naturally they'll try to emulate him to share fame with him.**
Good one 
