**Flamboyant Pakistan all-rounder and vice-captain Shahid Afridi has opened up a new front with captain Mohammad Yousuf and other members accusing them of not playing as a unit in the ongoing one-day series in Australia.
“The thing is that we are losing because the players are not playing with unity,” Afridi said on Geo Television on Tuesday after Pakistan suffered a 40-run defeat in the third one-dayer against Australia in Adelaide.
Afridi said everyone was playing to make a name for himself and not for the national team.
I am really sad and disappointed at the performance of team," Afridi said.
Afridi, who made it clear that those players who were not performing well should be rested or dropped so that the new players could be given a chance to play, also took an indirect dig at his captain when asked about the team’s performance.
“I believe that a good captain is one who can control his players and extract the best performances out of them,” Afridi said.
Afridi, who scored a hard hitting 40 in Tuesday’s defeat, is being tipped to replace Yousuf at the helm of the ODI squad when the team returns from Australia.
Ironically even Yousuf has said that it is time Pakistan Cricket Board drop such players from the team who play for themselves and not for the team.
so now one more player thinks that others are playing for ‘self’ and not for the country… time to revisit 2003 drop everyone! and promote all U-19 to the senior team
and exactly this is the reason I am against him being captain in test and ODI. He is a dumb head and has too much lust for captaincy and looks like to him, definition of "good captain who can control players" is to drop the players ..... Afridi has no business giving such interviews while we are still on tour ...
He can sense the captaincy and has started fk*ng around already !
this is a shameful blow by Afiridi.. should not have made a comment like that. He is bragging only cause his own performance was good enough in the last 3 odis.
What truth? He knows that the players were playing for their own self and not for the country? No player should be coming out in the open and talking about others, if he has the itch to talk then he should be talking about his own performance and aims (if any).
Whatever happened to the ban imposed on players for talking to media. He shouldnt be saying this in the middle of the series. Like he will be able to unite the players. Unless you drop them all and play younger ones who have pride to play for their country, this will happen.
The whole management/team is in total disarray. First Yousuf, Butt, Akmal and now Afridi, everyone has something to say and management is not doing anything to keep them quite. They're making a fool of themselves.
The whole management/team is in total disarray. First Yousuf, Butt, Akmal and now Afridi, everyone has something to say and management is not doing anything to keep them quite. They're making a fool of themselves.
Management to sub say agay hai bolnay mein. Look at recent Butt's comments regarding future captaincy.
I think - scrap the whole team and dismiss all tours for next 6 months to a year. In the meantime, rebuild a young team with young players that have performed recently including players from U-19 team and who don't have 'parchi'. And then start playing with weaker teams to build confidence.
This way, players will gain confidence and gradually we will emerge as champions. Otherwise, with current team and management, there is zero hope.
says the man who used every opportunity/interview/soundbite he got to undermine Malik when he was captain. Afridi is one of the most undisciplined, unprofessional players to have played for Pakistan. and one of the luckiest. the kind of run he's been given despite his piss poor consistency if we'd given to Yasir Hameed, M Waseem and countless others, we might have created many world class players capable of winning matches on a consistent basis.
if I were him, I'd count my blessing instead of talking too much... otherwise pot calling kettle black comes to mind... since he's been involved with groupbazi since the beginning of time... it's also funny how always ends up being every captain's best friend (except for Malik but that was a personal rivalry). Afridi might be extremely unprofessional but he isn't as stupid as he looks. pakka meesna...
says the man who used every opportunity/interview/soundbite he got to undermine Malik when he was captain. Afridi is one of the most undisciplined, unprofessional players to have played for Pakistan. and one of the luckiest. the kind of run he's been given despite his piss poor consistency if we'd given to Yasir Hameed, M Waseem and countless others, we might have created many world class players capable of winning matches on a consistent basis.
if I were him, I'd count my blessing instead of talking too much... otherwise pot calling kettle black comes to mind... since he's been involved with groupbazi since the beginning of time... it's also funny how always ends up being every captain's best friend (except for Malik but that was a personal rivalry). Afridi might be extremely unprofessional but he isn't as stupid as he looks. pakka meesna...
Agree with you on this. There are many politicians or khaleefey in this team but he is not the only one IMO. Malik was apparently doing the same when Younis was the captain
Agree with you on this. There are many politicians or khaleefey in this team but he is not the only one IMO. Malik was apparently doing the same when Younis was the captain
yup, there is Khaleefa giri at the highest level going on right now. with T20 WC and ODI WC on the head, I would say that every one just shuts up and start focusing on cricket. Other than winning one T20 WC, Pakistan has not done anything good to itself for almost a decade now. 2003 and 2007 were horrible, 99 we were the finalist. thats it.
Every captain tries to imitate Imran Khan and turns into a dictator instead. The difference between these teesri fail and Imran is that Imran walked the talk and these guy just love authority.
Afridi is a trouble maker..he was behind shoaib/Asif feud...behind Malik's challenges to manage seniors..behind Younis khan's resignation and now this. His intentions are evil and I would hate to see him as a captain even if he is a winning one.
Every captain tries to imitate Imran Khan and turns into a dictator instead. The difference between these teesri fail and Imran is that Imran walked the talk and these guy just love authority.
Afridi is a trouble maker..he was behind shoaib/Asif feud...behind Malik's challenges to manage seniors..behind Younis khan's resignation and now this. His intentions are evil and I would hate to see him as a captain even if he is a winning one.
done forget that he actually ruined the pitch on live tv during a Pak england match..
first of all, the title of thread is misleading. playing as a unit and no unity are different things in cricketing terms..
secondly, I agree that he should keep his mouth shut until he's given captaincy. Pak cricket is in shambles and these players are given too much leeway talking to media.
This report is hugely overblown. this is why I hate geo.. looking for cheap kicks talking to every player when they are clearly told they shouldnt. :)
raha captaincy ka sawaal. People who are blaming him for Asif Shoaib feud or Malik's captaincy fiasco should actually see why seniors like Malik and Asif are still trusting Afridi. Not because he is a politician but because he is a motivating presence in the team. Yes he is a meesna but so was Javed Miandad, Wasim Akram and other successful captains..
drop everyone! and promote all U-19 to the senior team 
They are busy issuing statements about ‘captain after the series’ while the series is on.