Adieu Afridi?
As was being rumoured, Shahid Afridi was given the axe from Pakistan’s one-day international (ODI) squad for the tour of India when selectors named the teams on Monday. The former captain’s lack of form in the format was said to be the reason for his exclusion and while he remains a part of the Twenty20 squad, Afridi will have to put in good performances in the shortest format to keep his place.
On the other hand, veteran batsman Younis Khan was recalled for the ODIs on back of his experience in India and as a reliable option in the middle order.
Several young players, three uncapped and several with limited outings were also included in the squads as the selectors indicated their will to experiment and show some faith in the youth.
Another mentionable exclusion was that of veteran all-rounder Abdul Razzaq but given his outburst against T20 captain Mohammad Hafeez, it wasn’t surprising that the Lahore Lions player was kept out of the touring side.
Pakistani cricket fans have been divided on the team selection and while some have backed the excitement of youth over experienced players, other have lamented the exclusion of star all-rounder Afridi.
Do you agree with the team selection for the T20 and ODI squads for the tour of India?
Does Shahid Afridi deserve a place in the ODI squad? If not, will this mark a turning-point in his ODI career?
Will inexperienced players be able to cope with the pressure of playing in a high-pressure series against India?
Who are your picks for star performers for the ODI and T20 matches?
Dawn.com invites its readers to share their opinions and views…
correct decision to leave shahid out of the ODI squad. He MAY still be a useful T20 player but his ODI performance as an allrounder has been pathetic n his bowling has also slipped down a little. He doesnt seem to give his all recently n even his performance in the Faisal bank domestic T20 cup was below par. Regarding experience, he has never used his in any department of the game n his record as a bowler against india has been very ordinary over the last 4-5 years. Razzaq should have been in the T20 side but his attitude of being blunt n speaking without thinking always lets him down.. Will blame that on the lack of education n common sense of our payers… All the best Pakistan team… U have a tough nut to crack. India is still a very strong side, n i guess giving them a good fight would be a big achievement.
Hi, Pakistani’s .. i have read all these comments only few are in favour and let me clear that he will participate in coming match<…. m dead sure.. keep smiling
THe problem in Pakistan and India is that we consider past performances too much and people are taken as if they are running their family business. Afridi should have been shown the door long time ago and we were really flogging a dead horse. Look how professional is Australia that they take team on merit (With Symonds, Waugh brothers, Ponting) shown the door when they were not performing.
I bet you if we had the set was there for Imran Farhat, he would have been selected. There is no question that Afridi is being dropped due to mere politics.
I had been the biggest critic of Afridi’s continued inclusion in the team as a batting allrounder. It is true that for a period of time (very short) he did perform consistently with the bat as an opening partner for saeed anwar and it was the period whn great Javed Bhai was the coach who was working hard with him. After that brief period, Afridi the batsman had gone forever and what we saw in last decade was a slogger trying to rediscover his touch of golden days. Having said that, people always forget that he came into International cricket as a legspinner and that unfortunate century he was labelled as a batsman who can bowl a bit. It was his own fault that for long he did not take his bowling seriously neither did our team management utilised him as a specialist bowler ( even moin khan never felt aggrieved whenever he missed stumping chances or dropped catches of him). It was Waqar Younis who finally had some sense to use him more as specialist bowler during his captaincy period but after that same process started again. I remember when Aamir Sohail dropped him when he was a selector and said that afridi can only make a comeback as a bowler and i think that was the stage that he finally started focusing on his bowling.. His bowling average in last few years (2008-2012) is in stark contrast with that during (1997-2007) so he actually wasted a decade in realising his true potential as a lethal legspinner . To me, Afridi is the most skillful legspinner after Shane Warne and Bdul Qadir and the reason he never reached the same heights was the mishandling by management, false public expectations of public for wanting to develop as batsman and his own careless attitude.
People have short memories. Pakistan would have suffered another shock exit in WC 2011 through hands of a minnow like canada where he single handedly won the match for Pakistan. He was unlucky not to get wickets in crunch match against India when our fielders were dropping catches for fun. Then again against srilanka last year, he single handedly won couple of ODIs.
It is a fact that Afridi as a bowler has a tough period recently and that is mainly due to his fitness levels which he himself does not admit. Another question is whether he still has that zip and energy to perform consistently which he did brilliantly in last few years by forming a lethal partnership with Saeed Ajmal. People pointing to his age being less than Misbah tend to forget that Afridi has been continuously playing since 1996 so it is not surprising if he is finally feeling the effect of such a long career and may be his body is not willing to support increased burden.
Afridi as a batsman had long disappeared but the biggest problem which I and many people have is his atrocious shot selection in crucial matches at crunch matches where even tailenders tend to perform with more responsibility. He showed it in WC 2011 semifinal then again during recent T20 WC by going for big hits from the very first ball with a brain fade.
Pakistan need afridi till next WC 2015, it does not mean we have to drag him even if he fails as a bowler too but in my view if he can improve his fitness, he can still play for couple more years easily, besides have we found an able replacement and by replacement i mean a specialist legspinner?
Agree , his performance deserved an axe but what about some other people in team, why Kamran Akmal continues to be in team? Why Imran farhat keep on getitng chance after chance? Till when we would tolerate an increasingly inconsistent Gul or till when we would tolerate the mediocrity of Hafeez as an opening batsman or suggishness of Misbah?
Shahid Afridi is a bowler and as a bowler he has done well. What about the performance of Misbah and Kamran Akmal? Afridi lead the team to WC semi finals and we lost that semi final because of Misbah.
Irrationality and emotions in politics and sports go hand in hand in Pakistan, Shahid Afridi’s did burst into the scene as a one day pinch hitter and an instant darling of the crowd. I remember during the early years, Sir Geoffrey Boycott had given an interview in 2000 where he stated that Shahid Afridi should be nurtured to control his temperament, shot selection and not be introduced to test cricket for it not being his natural game. But over the years, bad management, changing captains and his own irresponsible attitude had to give in. I agree with all the earlier comments that he should have left ages ago gracefully until he proved otherwise. and the board should have taken a bold step as well.
His performance is like a flip side of a coin and this so called psychological factor is overrated, give the new players a chance is the way to go.
Why are Shoaib Malik still part of the squad. His performance in the recent domestic tournament leaves a lot to be desired. In the same way, Imran Farhat’s inclusion in the squad makes no sense. Afridi’s contribution as a bowler and good fielder would outweigh Shoaib Malik and Imran Farhat’s inclusion in the squad.
Completely agree with PCB’s decision. People become better with age, he went the other way. He has been playing cricket for 16 + years and he still bat like he is just new… Pak cricket will be better without him. He can still play T20.