It’s been almost year since Shahid Afridi became the captain of Pakistan team, He got the job after Mohammad Yousaf was unceremoniusly removed as the captain during the Australian tour in Jan this year, the fans were led to believe by a huge section of the media that Afridi will lead Pakistan aggressively and in the shorter format he is the best choice as a leader. Afridi lost the first match as captain and also got banned for two T20 matches for ball tampering.
Afridi’s ball tampering act was clearly an attempt to insult and malign his own bowlers in front of the whole world but the strong Karachi based media twisted the story to save their hero and made it look like his frustration and hunger to win matches at any cost. The administrators failed to read that sign for things to happen in future just chose to fine him and retained him as the captain.
Out of the thirteen Odi matches in which Afridi stood as captain Pakistan has only won five out of which one match was against Bangladesh and one was against an under strength West Indies.
His batting average is 65 in the matches that Pakistan won and just 22 in the 8 matches which Pakistan lost he scored 109 against Srilanka in Dumbulla if you take that innings out then in the remaining 7 matches he has scored just 69 runs. There has been a myth about his bowling prowess his bowling has taken a dip since he became the captain he took only 14 wickets in 13 matches @ average of 41.78 which in the preceeding year was 32.33 his econ rate has also declined.
With age and responsibility one becomes more mature but that is not the case with Afridi. He made the fans believe for a brief period preceeding his captaincy that he was a reformed man and has become more mature and would bat more responsibly he played a few responsible innings under Younis Khan in the T20 World cup and helped Pakistan win the tournament and also played a few exciting innings in the champions trophy but since he took over from Younis Khan he is back to his old ways after four five matches plays one good innings and utterly fails in the rest.
The fans never know which Afridi will show up the responsible one or the stupid one, the matches in which he scores big runs he starts with a reasonable caution and doesn’t try to hit every ball out of the park and as a result manages to contribute decent runs to the teams total, but in matches where stupidity takes over him he pays no attention to match situation never assess the risk situation and just plays suicidal shots. In the eight Odi matches that Pakistan have lost under him his scores are as following: 1, 109, 32, 19, 9, 0, 1, 7
Pakistan have lost 8 out of 15 T20 matches played under him which is a very low rate of success before him Pakistan had a near perfect T20 record but still those leaders were not considered good enough to lead.
The thing which disturbs me the most is that when the middle order scores he plays very irresponsibly and losses all the advantage, had he stayed on the crease for just two more overs in todays match Pakistan would have won, he didn’t paid any attention to the match situation and just started playing high risk shots.
Many just attribute his suicidal shots to his over aggression but since when stupidity and aggression became synoymus terms. He is one of the most experienced Odi players in the world it is naive to believe that he doesn’t understand different match situations and doesn’t know his responsibility, he is quick to point fingers at others in every post match conference and never holds his words but when will he realize his own responsibilities.
If he bats at #5 or #6 that means that he has to play an important role as a batsman or else we should accept the fact that our tail starts from the number he comes to bat in.
He has cozy relations with Ijaz Butt’s administration because he is acting like a dummy, he dropped Umar Akmal, and Misbah and chose to play Farhat and Shafiq, why?
Why he has not stood up against the selection of Farhat in the team?
PCB has metted very harsh treatment to a player like Shoaib Akhtar over the years who have been the most consistent performer for Pakistan and a genuine match winner but it is very surprising that in last 16 years they haven’t found a way to discipline Afridi.
I have no doubt in my mind that Pakistan will get knocked out in the first round of the world cup if Afridi remained the captain of the team, he has failed to unite the team has failed to inspire them or to lead them from the front consistently.
For the past 16 years we have given this guy the licensce to be stupid but can we afford give the licensce to be stupid to our captain.
PCB should get rid of ”Captain stupid” if they sincerely want the team to perform in the next world cup.
Adeeba
I have every right to call him what he is, and may be he performed in your dreams but not on the field as you suggested in your comment.
U hav no right to say anything against any player especially Afridi…..he is the best player and he has proved it 100 times…U cannot call im stupid….may be u r stupid….Afridi is the best pakistan has ever had…His captaincy united the team…gave them salf-confidence…and the power and strength to hit the ball when they want regardless the bowler balling…before saying that someone is stupid u should see wht u r….Pakistan won the world cup in 2009 only becox of his brilliance so before saying something look at the stats and is performance tht made pak stand on top…..!!
Salman Butt, Kamran Akmal and Shoaib Malik used to fix matches in domestic tournaments as well.
PCB has conducted investigations about these players in the past for match-fixing in domestic tournaments.
Shoaib Malik was involved in match fixing in the first National Twenty20 tournament when his team was in position of winning the match easily but he deliberately lost the match and later he openly admitted that he lost the match intentionally.
Wahab Riaz, Mohammad Aamer, Kamran Akmal, Mohammad Asif and Salman Butt all played for the National Bank. Wahab Riaz is the main person who acts as a middle man for bookies and delivers their messages to Salman Butt and Kamran Akmal.
Zulqernain has resisted against match fixing in the past.
In a 2008-09 domestic one day tournament Salman Butt was representing National Bank team where he fixed the match against Lahore along with his team-mate Kamran Akmal and coaches of both the teams. Zulqarnain was the captain of Lahore at that time but he had refused to fix the match. National Bank needed to win the match with better run rate to qualify for the semi final.
After Zulqarnain’s refusal Haider, the Lahore team management dropped Zulqarnain from the squad claiming that he was injured and included club cricketer Ahmed Dar as captain of Lahore in his absence.
National Bank won the match convincingly.
The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) had formed the inquiry committee which included Saleem Altaf and Shafqat Rana to probe into the match. But the inquiry committee cleared the match after investigating for only few hours. However the PCB never made public the report of the inquiry committee.
Zulqernain’s disappearance:
Zulqarnain took his passport from Intikhab Alam on sunday night on the pretext that he needed it to get a SIM for his mobile phone. Intikhab handed the player his passport after telling him to return it as soon as possible.
Shahid Aslam saw him leaving his room at around 6am. He intercepted Haider, who told he is leaving to receive his relatives and would be back after some time.
Apparently soon after, Intikhab later was informed of where he was going.
PCB
Why don’t you join us at Stanis in the live chat.
As regards Younis’s case
I will give you a detailed response later on.
PCB
I have seen Junaid bowl in domestic cricket matches looks just like Aamer, a bit slower in pace but the good thing is that he is a swing bowler who can move the ball both ways and relies more on accuracy, he is the product of the same batch which produced us Umar Akmal, Aamer and Ahmad Shahzad.
This batch was trained and Coached by Muddassar Nazar at the PCA.
His performance in domestric cricket and the A tours has been very good.
Ahmad Shahzad also has been performing well, I wonder why he was sent to the stupid tour of Hongkong sixes and not with the A team if he wasn’t getting selected for the national team.
The A team has a lot of players who will never get selected in national team especially batsmen, they have left behind the real contenders this happened on the last tour too.
I
Umair Khan was the only batsman to impress in the T20 matches against WI A. He is only 25, but his first class and one day career performances are ordinary. I think he will develop over time.
Junaid Khan and Mohammad Rameez are two bowlers who have impressed. They are both very young, and I have already stated in previous threads that they should have been called up to the test side against SA.
Wasim,
All I am saying is that you said he was out of form for 14 months. I have provided you with his scores in those 14 months:
- Excellent performance in WI ODI series
- Poor performance in SL ODI series
- Excellent performance in SL Test
- Poor performance in AUS ODI series
- Excellent performance in T20 WC 09
- Poor performance in SL Tests
- Excellent performance in SL ODI’s
- Poor performance in ICC Champions Trophy
If you average these series, overall his performances were good.
Afterwards, he performed poorly in the NZ and AUS ODI’s, but this was month after your thread was created and he was also probably affected by infighting.
PCB even after I posted the complete list of performances you are still adamant that he was not out of form, the only series in which he scored some runs was the odi series in SriLanka he failed in the test matches just scored two fifties in the Odis and you are using that series as a cut off point to prove your point is there an ego issue involved here if yes THEN I am willing to concede to your ego, because apparently you will never accept the facts. Before the SriLankan series he failed in four Odis against Australia and the CT, he failed against SriLanka and New Zealand in the Odis so it was not just his post Champions trophy poor performance that troubled me, please take a look at all the facts.
Wasim
Younis or other people may not have denied he was struggling for form, but it wasn’t to such an extent that he should retire – that is the point I am trying to make.
I know he struggled in the ODI’s against NZ (Nov 09) and AUS(Jan 10) – but these were took place after you created that ridiculous thread – Do us a favour and retire Younis. So you cannot use these as an excuse for creating that thread.
Before you created that thread, he struggled in Champions Trophy but he did fairly well in the SL ODI’s. His performances are there to see, I will not comment any further on these, because it is clear that he was getting runs up to the Champions Trophy.
Other teams do drop players but after a long time – England only dropped Pietersen when they played Pakistan in the ODI’s. Before that, Pietersen was struggling for nearly a year. Pietersen hasn’t scored a century in international cricket for 20 months and has struggled horribly even against the likes of Bangladesh at times.
Younis Khan has performed consistently. The only back to back series he did not perform in were NZ ODI’s (November 2009) and Aus ODI’s (Jan 10). This was a combination of infighting and also a lack of match practice. Before these series, he performed very well generally, so I cannoy buy the argument that he struggled for more than a year.
I and other bloggers did tell you about Malik & Co and also problems with team management. Look at the thread again – you refused to believe it at that time.
PCb it was a combination of a few things, his lack of form and his quitting for the third time ofcourse at that time I didn’t knew what Malik & CO has been doing with him on the tour and how he was struggling with the tour management on small issues you have to give me margin for that.
If I am not mistaken you guys are trying to prove here that Younis was not out of form for a long period of time and I just unfairly criticized him.
Him being out of form was something which he himself never denied his biggest supporter Osman Sami never denied it, Shahid Afridi said that fitness & form were the key issues in not selecting Younis Khan.
Lets go backwards now.
In five Odis that he played against Australia he scored 68 runs.Three Odis that he played against New Zealand he scored just 22 runs, In three champions trophy Odis his highest score was 20.The only time he scored some runs was against SriLanka where he scored two half centuries.Before that he scored only 45 runs in four odis against Australia and 28 runs in three Odis against SriLanka. All these series were held in a sequence and this is the time period I was talking about.
We all know that the period before that he was the pillar of Pakistani batting no body argues that.
Other teams also drop their key players if they get out of form for a long period of time, they also get criticised, I don’t know what I have done wrong here.
England dropped KP, India has dropped multiple times VVS and Dravid they have even dropped Sachin on multiple occassions, Australia has dropped it’s key players it’s only us who treat our players like Gods and that is the main reason that these morons have no sense of responsibility.
I think instead of trying to find small errors in my statements try to understand the facts, which are quite evident.
I know YK was under a lot of stress due to off the field dramas he couldn’t focus on his form, but unfortunately there is no player in the world who can remain in the team if they don’t perform for more than a year.
You guys can blame me if I had ever supported Ijaz Butt in banning Younis Khan I have always called his ban unfair and said that YK should be allowed to join the team if he is in form, but, yes I have criticized Younis for being too tempramental and childish on occassions but who have not done that every body who likes him and wanted him to succeed was upset at him for quitting in anger for the third time, it wasn’t me alone and that prompted that post regarding him retiring.
Next year if Afridi wins the world cup which I pray that he will, that won’t absolve him of his criminal shot selection during this series or would it? Similarly my criticism on Younis wasn’t personal it was strictly related to his form at that period of time.
End of discussion. I am neither trying to convince you guys nor going to get convinced, I have said what I believed was fair and right and not going to change anything or retract from anything what I have said regarding Afridi or Younis.
Wasim
I have not checked Stanis. But you made the thread ‘Do us a favour and retire Younis’ at the start of October 2009 – this was before NZ and AUS series. You said you created that thread because in the 14 months before he failed.
You can see that his performances before that thread was created were fine really.
PCB
You have not taken into account the score of the Australian and the Kiwi series the figures which I quoted at Stani’s were from the series in which he scored 313 till the Australian Odi series If I remember correctly he failed in 20 Odis out of 24.
As you can see by the post I have made about Younis’ scores, he wasn’t out of form really – if he was he bounced back in the following series.
I want Younis to be captain but only if he wants to be captain. I think Afridi will be captain at the world cup which is why I have made the comments above.
The point with players and whether we judge by reputation or results – the answer is both, as I have said the same with Younis above. We must not judge a player is finished if he struggles in 1-2 series. This can only be judged after about 8-12 months of constant failures.
Wasim:
Younis’ scores in the 14 months (Aug 08 – Oct 09) before your ‘Do us a favour and retire…’
1st ODI vs WI – 56 runs off 62 balls
2nd ODI vs WI – 34 runs off 42 balls
3rd ODI vs WI – 101 runs off 119 balls
1st ODI vs SL – 20 runs off 22 balls
2nd ODI vs SL – 4 runs off 6 balls
3rd ODI vs SL – 4 runs off 6 balls
1st Test vs SL – 313 runs off 568 balls
1st ODI vs AUS – 11 runs off 31 balls
2nd ODI vs AUS – 28 runs off 34 balls
3rd ODI vs AUS – 0 runs off 1 balls
4th ODI vs AUS – 7 runs off 7 balls
5th ODI vs AUS – 27 runs off 37 balls
WC T20 vs ENG – 46 runs off 31 balls
WC T20 vs HOL – 36 runs off 20 balls
WC T20 vs SL – 50 runs off 37 balls
WC T20 vs NZ – 6* runs off 9 balls
WC T2O vs IRE – 10 runs off 8 balls
WC T20 vs SA – 24* runs off 18 balls
1st Test vs SL – 25 runs off 55 balls, 3 runs off 2 balls,
2nd Test vs SL – 0 runs off 3 balls, 82 runs off 152 balls
3rd Test vs SL – 2 runs off 3 balls, 19 runs off 48 balls
1st ODI vs SL – 12 runs off 23 balls
2nd ODI vs SL – 23 runs off 73 balls
3rd ODI vs SL – 44 runs off 59 balls
4th ODI vs SL – 89 runs off 111 balls
5th ODI vs SL – 76 runs off 100 balls
ICC CT vs IND – 20 runs off 33 balls
ICC CT vs AUS – 18 runs off 49 balls
ICC CT vs NZ – 15 runs off 23 balls
Stani is going to cover the 5th Odi live at http://www.staniarmy.com through cover it live where everybody can comment live as the match progresses. I request everybody to join us there.
PCB
The team you selected is really quite strong, but I have my reservations about Malik nobody has supported him like me over the years but after the SriLankan tour I changed my opinion about him.Like you I am also tempted to include him in my team but then i remember how he underperformed in Australia.
He has the best game IQ out of all the senior players especially in the shorter formats, he is a good fielder not a good bowler but still can bowl some usefull overs in Asian conditions but his batting has been poor whether it was underperformance or corruption we would never know but the results were not good.
I would pick Ahmad Shahzad or Fawad Alam ahead of him.
Akmal brothers have won us many matches but we also lost many because of them, clearly the are more talented then Haider and Shafiq but the later despite their limitations are giving better results because they are not corrupt and give more than 100%.
I hope that Akmal brothers learn their lesson and change their habits.
Yousaf is still the best Pakistani batsman but he hasn’t done anything better than these youngsters result wise in the last series which is a big surprise and explains the real problem, should we judge these players by their reputation or the results they produce? It’s a question which is very difficult to answer.His fielding is another major issue.
Please don’t take it criticism like Asim it’s just my point of view. :
Asim
It’s your choice. I think you are getting emotional here not me, but if any of my comment has hurt you in any way I appologize that was not my intention, I was only responding to your comments.
You should learn to chill and relax, try to understand light hearted comments …. I can quote you many times from Stani’s blog where you have negated the point that you made earlier, because this is your habit, but I am no mood of wasting time on that …. for the point I have always posted as Asim (not fake identities that you tried to accuse me), so enjoy your emotionaly charged life and I will make your life easier by not disturbing you with any comments or visiting your blog in future, take care.
PCB
I think first you have to make up your own mind who you want to be the captain of Pakistan team. Afridi or Younis because I think you are confused between the two.
PCB
Younis has been investigated three times by ICC’s ACSU I don’t know which one are you referring to. 14 months of poor form, I don’t think that I made too much out of it. I was aware of the groupings but groupings were on both sides and there was no information at the time when I wrote that post that nine players were underperforming to get rid of him.That information came out later.
His personal form was a complete failure which made him look more bad.
Asim
You can say what ever you want but I think you are being unfair here.
I think you are referring to a thread at Stani’s ” Should Younis Apologize” this is the only time I highlighted some of Younis Khans problems and had a big argument with some of his supporters. You guys keep on changing your identity so I never know who I am talking to.
This post was written by Stani following some jingoistic statements made by Rashid Latif and Basit Ali.
Every coin has two sides, YK was not completely innocent he also had his flaws due to which he was sitting out.
My only concern was his 14 months of poor form as a batsman and also had some issues with his man management skills and temprament, I believed that if he had been more diplomatic in his arguments and still held on to his job instead of resigning that would have been much better for him and Pakistan cricket.
Secondly 14 months is a long time for a key player to remain out of form, I don’t think that criticizing him for that was emotional. Yes you can say that I was not his blind and loyal supporter unlike many others. My loyalty is only with Pakistan cricket and not with individuals.
I never argued on the selection of Asad Shafiq and Aamer Sajjad.
I haven’t seen Sajjad play so I have never commented on him. As regards Asad and your accusation this is the thread I wrote after the team was announced for England.
http://cricketfiles.com/2010/08/24/afridi-and-ejaz-butt-again-ignore-younis-khan/
Read it and you will see what I wrote about Asad Shafiq.
Me and Stani were exchanging views about the technique of Shafiq, I know he is a very talented player but he has his flaws he is a weak off side player and tries to play every thing on the on side, his hooking and pulling is also weak but he is very brave and has the right attitude he has a bright future. I rate him higher than Fawad Alam.
Why YK’s experience didn’t counted in SriLanka, champions trophy and Australia?
Now you me and everybody knows that he has regained some of his his form and the conditions in which he is playing are not as difficult as Australia or England so obviously he will perform.
It’s childish of you to try and make a point now, you can’t use his current performance to prove me wrong of something I said a year ago about Younis regarding his form at that time that is just plain ridiculous
My views about Afridi’s mental appraoch have not changed, and if you couldn’t see the damaging affect of his short innings in the last match then I am sorry to say you will never be able to see it.
Also, these groupings that happened last year never actually affected the team’s performance in trophies – T20 WC 2009, ICC CT 2009, T20 WC 2010 – we reached semi finals of two and won one.
The team I selected is a very strong side, but I don’t expect there to be any issues with grouping.
1. Mohammad Hafeez
2. Kamran Akmal (wkt)
3. Shoaib Malik
4. Younis Khan (capt)
5. Mohammad Yousuf
6. Umar Akmal
7. Shahid Afridi
8. Abdul Razzaq
9. Umar Gul
10. Shoaib Akhtar
11. Saeed Ajmal
4 Reserves:
- Imran Nazir
- Asad Shafiq
- Wahab Riaz
- Abdur Rehman
The only players above who are not involved in the UAE ODI series are Kamran Akmal, Shoaib Malik, Mohammad Yosuuf and Imran Nazir.
I think Afridi will be captain for the world cup, and he will definitely have the support of Younis, Yousuf, Razzaq, Akhtar – these five senior players will be difficult to create groups against.
Wasim
A number of other bloggers did point out to you that there were groupings in the team against Younis. He was investigated in 2007 by ICC which was a long while back before your post. Also, I think you made too much out of his lack of form – he wasn’t out of form for too long, and a senior player like Younis shouldn’t be thrown out of the team for lack of form in a couple of series.
Hong Kong Sixes opening match Pak vs Ind
http://www.cricket.com.hk/db/ARCHIVE/2010-11/OTHERS/HKG_LOCAL/HKSIXES2010-SCHEDULE-RV.html
Pak a vs WI A:
http://www.cricinfo.com/ci/engine/match/480429.html
Wasim, now I understand you are a very emotional person, a typical pakistani cricket team fan ….. when we loose you will curse them right, left and center but when they win you will be full of praise
I remember couple of your points, like on england tour when I talked about injustice of not selecting Asad Shafiq and Aamer Sajjad on the england tour, instead of Imran Farhat/Azhar Ali/Umer Amin because these two were the most successful batsman in our domestic cricket, you ridiculed the domestic setup but when you saw younis score runs in the same domestic cricket you wanted him to back in the team
…. as for younis, the experience really counts and he could have been a great asset if we had taken him to england …. his performances have been a big slap on Ijaz Butt’s face this series …… these experienced players know how to play under pressure situations, this is exactly what Younis showed last night and I was really impressed by his stamina, I remember in the previous games our youngsters like Asad Shafiq, or even southafricans like Kallis were cramping when they reached 40+ but younis was still diving and taking 2-3 runs without huffing and puffing (just like Amla). This is exactly what our trainer said that as far as the fitness is concerned younis and fawad are far better then any other player in the team.
But anyway 99 responses to your stupid captain post …. you should make the 100th one and call him a genius
On paper that team looks very strong but it will be dysfunctional as a few names in it will spoil the team atmosphere.
I think for all the fans it is very tempting to include all the best players in the country in their team but if we keep on ignoring the corruption factor and dirty politics factor even when every thing is pretty much out in the open then it will be our own mistake. The results will again be disappointing.
Yousaf, Malik, Akmal brothers, Umar Gul, Ajmal, Aamer and Butt they were all in the same group. Take a look at the performances of these players except Aamer you won’t find a single player in this group who has performed according to his status in the last two years, one day they are great the next completely shit.
This team which has played under Afridi is not very strong on paper doesn’t have any depth but don’t you see it has given tough time to England in England we would have won that series 4-1 if the umpires were not so biased, again this series if Afridi has played responsibly we would have already won it but still this team has squared the series up nobody thought that they could do it.
The point I am trying to make here is don’t get carried away by big names, these young players are doing a fine job. I also get carried away but then I convince myself that Akmal brothers deserved to be punished, Yousaf and Malik when they will come back will again play dirty games so we are better without them.
PCB
I do remember that post but at that time the news of how the players had revolted against him was not out, ICC’s ACSU investigated him and his personal form was pathetic at best all the promises which were made before making him the captain were not being fullfilled.
From the outside he was looking really bad as he was not performing himself.
But when the news came out about how the players had revolted against him, I wrote this post “ One ceaser and nine brutus”.
During his ban period my only objection was his personal form, I was against recalling him to Australia and my criticism proved to be right the criticism was not based on personal hatred it was based on his current form and I had been against the inclusion of Yousaf also for the same reason.
I changed my stance when I heard him scoring some runs in county cricket and then I saw a few matches played by him for Peshawar in domestic tournaments he wasn’t successful in all of them but the little I saw was enough to tell me that his fitness is back. Since then you might have seen in every thread I have been asking for his inclusion in the team both at Stanis and here.
I think my stance had always been that like any other player he has to prove his form in domestic cricket or else where which was fair.
My opinion about a player is not based on jingoistic loyalty it is based on his current form when the form changes so does my criticism or support .
This team below has a very strong and experienced batting line up. It also has 7 bowling options.
1. Mohammad Hafeez
2. Kamran Akmal (wkt)
3. Shoaib Malik
4. Younis Khan (capt)
5. Mohammad Yousuf
6. Umar Akmal
7. Shahid Afridi
8. Abdul Razzaq
9. Umar Gul
10. Shoaib Akhtar
11. Saeed Ajmal
4 Reserves:
- Imran Nazir
- Asad Shafiq
- Wahab Riaz
- Abdur Rehman
Should Akhtar is no where near fit enough to play test matches in my opinion. Especially with the conditions, it could be very difficult for bowlers. He is doing fine in ODI’s and T20′s and Pakistan should use him in those formats only.
Zulquarnain should be considered for tests maybe but I have not seen too much of his keeping. I don’t think it is that good really, so maybe Sarfraz Ahmed would be better for tests.
Kamran Akmal should be first choice for ODI’s and T20′s because he is a very good opener and batter and also does not make as many mistakes in one day matches.
Although we do lose an opener quickly and so we may as well open with Younis, he is more likely to get out facing the new ball even if it is just 2-3 overs. That also means there is no one experienced to pace the innings in the middle order because the openers really have to try and make use of the powerplay.
Never had any problem with Younis – I can remember you actively calling for Younis to retire this time last year. Thread – ‘Do us a favour and retire Younis..’
Pakistan Cricket Board has sent letters to Abdul Razzaq, Shoaib Akhtar and Fawad Alam demanding explanation for indiscipline during the ongoing One-day series against South Africa. Intikhab Alam has issued notices to the three players. Razzaq has been asked to explain his comments after his century in the second match when he indirectly criticized the team management and coaches while Akhtar and Fawad have been sent notices for violating curfew hours on the tour. The board has given strict instructions to the manager he has to enforce the clauses in letter and spirit and not tolerate any violations from anyone. He made it clear that if the manager didn’t penalise the players then the board would take action against him. The board now wants a clear cut culture in the team of players and officials adhering to the code of conduct for them. In the past the board has allowed players to get away with violations of their contracts like giving unauthorized interviews, appearing on television shows and breaking curfew hours but after the recent England tour where the image of Pakistan cricket took a beating after the spot-fixing scandal emerged, apparently the PCB has got tougher.
Guys I do like Haider and I do hate Kamran Akmal, but lets not indulge ourselves in too much wishful thinking, first of all to be very honest Haider hasn’t impressed me with his batting or keeping, I can say otherwise just in the hatred of Kamran Akmal but that won’t be the truth. I would like him to be a permanent fixture in Test matches but for limited overs it has to be Kamran Akmal or somebody else.
And no matter what we say or think Kamran Akmal is going to be back in the series against New Zealand.
Asim
Never had any problem with Younis my point was always that Younis has to score some runs in domestic cricket and county cricket before he is recalled because when he was dropped he was in the worst form of his life we rushed him to Australia but he couldn’t do any thing over there, but you must have noticed that after his few innings in county cricket and for Peshawar I immediately started demading his inclusion in the team.
Seems like he is working hard, he is still not 100% there but he will eventually get there hopefully before the world cup. And yes you are right I want him to open as Yousaf will come back in the middle order alongwith Umar Akmal , our opening remains a problem and if Younis can hold the innings in initial 10 overs Pakistan’s batting will become more stable ofcourse there is a flip side to this strategy if he got out early then Pakistan might lose an experienced player in the middle overs but for that we do have Yousaf and I don’t think we have much choice as all the openers we have tired whether pinch hitters, make shift or specialsit opners they have failed. So this is the only way we can fix this problem.
PCB
PCB is determined to save the career of Imran Farhat looks like nobody can drop him not even Ijaz Butt.
The problem is that Hafeez opens the innings any ways and Younis if you have noticed is in by the third over anyways so why waste a slot.
The reason why I think Wasim placed younis as openers is because I believe most of us have noticed that as soon as younis comes back in our team, one of our opener is back within first three overs so if he has to face new ball anyway then why not send him as an opener
…. am i right wasim ?
Zulqarnain still has to play
….. my ideal playing XI for the worldcup will be: Hafeez, Umer Akmal (Keeper & opener), younis, yusuf, asad, fawad, afridi, razzaq, wahab, shoaib, rehman or saeed (depending upon the opposition). This lineup will give depth in the batting that will be very important or we can opt for shahzaib in place of asad or fawad.
But Wasim, good to see that you agree to what I earlier demanded when our team was touring england …. bring back Younis and you were adamant he is not in form, past his peak
The best thing to see in these games is the team spirit in pakistan dressing, everyone trying his best to win the game.
Also it seems like Mazhar Majeed is these days working with south african players
….. because the way they have been misfielding and dropping catches in the last couple of games …. ICC should have a close look at them 
Yeah same I think it will be unchanged, unless they replace Imran Farhat.
Your batting order is quite surprising – Younis and Hafeez are key players and both exposed to the new ball.
PCB
This would be my team
1- Younis Khan
2- Hafeez
3- Umar Akmal
4- Asad Shafeeq
5- Fawad Alam
6- Afridi
7- Razzaq
8- Rahman
9- Riaz
10- Zulqernain
11- Shoaib Akhtar
But I think Pakistan will go unchanged.
Team for 5th ODI:
1. Fawad Alam
2. Zulqarnain Haider (wkt)
3. Mohammad Hafeez
4. Misbah Ul-Haq
5. Younis Khan
6. Asad Shafiq
7. Shahid Afridi (cpt)
8. Abdul Razzaq
9. Wahab Riaz
10. Abdur Rehman
11. Shoaib Akhtar
Assuming Umar Akmal is injured
Haider and Riaz finally did it for Pakistan, What a match?
What should have been an easy task half way through for Pakistan was made difficult because it seems our team’s motto is ” If it’s ain’t hard it ain’t right”.
Great win against a team which is much stronger than ours, what makes this victory even more special was the fact that South Africa were playing at full strength and Pakistan not.
The real hero of this match was Younis Khan whose workman like grinding innings brought Pakistan much closer to the target and made a huge run chase against a powerful bowling team look much easier.
Selfish play by Haider he will be in trouble if he fails to win this one.
Come on Riaz you can finish it.
Couple of boundaries here and Pakistan can still win it. Nara-e- Haidery
He was trying to slice it to third man but have you noticed that he struggles against faster bowlers.
Ah well
He went to early. Could have still tickled it around and launch later
Me too!
Yep, and if you see he didnt even back up for Rehman! He is the one that should have had the advantage at the non-strikers
He has to win it now…then I’ll forgive him
First he almost Ran Younis out, and if you scroll above in the comments I predicted that to happen.
This stop cant have been good for us
Zulquarnains got a decent 1st class average. I think we should work with him a while. Especially for Tests. I hope he gets the same chances as Akmal
Suicide. Razzaq should have ran. It was Rehmans call why the hell did Razzaq stop and look back? Not his call.
Stani
Yep you got that one right, he learned to be patient while fishing. There u go while I was writing this he is gone.
Really wanted to see him bat till the end of the innings he played a great knock. Hats off to you sir aap daal roti khatey hain magar haq halal ki.
Damn. We needed Younis in for about 3 more overs at least.
I sent you an email Wasim. Please check it in your own time.
Pakistan should take the batting power play now. Steyn has 3 overs, Parnell has three and Morkel has 3left and Kallis 2 I don’t think SA will bowl Parnell they will continue to use Kallis.
Run a ball. We can go 4-5 an over even until near the end. We’ll have wickets in hand to accelerate then.
…is that why he went fishing?
younis looks quite determined to win this match the only way Pakistan will lose is if he runs out of partners or somebody gets him run out. OOPS
Completely agree Stani.
Seems like Younis wasn’t able to afford meat because PCB wasn’t paying him during his ban period.
Asim
So these are the thoughts which make your frustration with Afridi go away.
I will try them too but the problem is I rate him very high ability wise and that is the main cause of my frustration with him.
Wasim, think of it as pakistan took a gamble and sent in a tailender to speed up the run chase, as you said his batting is like number 10/11 so from that perspective he did his job
…..
Even this shot could have been played relatively risk free if he had gone to the ball and played with a straight bat. The more you go closer to a horizontal bat the greater risk the ball will slice off where you do not want it. He charged out and stepped away then swung. He could have charged out stepped to the ball and swung with a straight bat over the off side field.
Younis has been eating the same subzi and dahl as Fawad. These guys need to eat some meat and muscle the ball.
and afridi is gone … rush of blood at the wrong time, we were doing so well before that but I think today Hafeez and Asad played quite well … was really impressed by both of them and also the way afridi started. I hope younis and razzaq have a good partnership and take us home.
Just when it looked as if that today Afridi will control his stupidity and prove me wrong stupidity takes over and puts Pakistan into a precarious situation. There was no need for that shot when he was playing ground shots so easily and scoring the runs too at a fast pace what was the need to hit a big six at this stage. Risk management is something which our Captain Stupid Khan Afridi doesn’t understand. Even if Pakistan wins from here which is difficult but Afridi did put his team into trouble.
So far Pakistan has played way better than what was expected of them. Even Afridi is playing sensibly so far which is a good sign hopefully if these two continue till the next 7 or 8 overs Pakistan’s chances to win will greatly increase,.
I think we need a batting coach so not sure how much Waqar will be missed. Yes, his wife is an Aussie. They should contract someone in and have him with the team in NZ and up to the WC.
This pitch looks good now. Just need to stay in and not play silly shots.
I really want Afridi to play a match winning innings today he has the capability and so far he hasn’t played a high risk shot which is a good sign.
Stani
Waqar goes back to Australia where he lives with his family after every series and comes back only a couple of weeks before the next series. I think coaching should be a year around job especially the fielding and batting drills. Also who is responsible for coaching in the academy, no one I guess at this stage.
Who? Waqar? Where’s he going?
I think Shafiq thought he was well home and that Parnell will miss which is why we didnt see a dive. He also swerved at the end so had to run that bit extra. He did play well though but that makes the lazy running even more frustrating.
Over confidence from Fawad. Played two ok innings and thinks he’s made it. Poor shot. Weight going back, too big a distance between bat and legs and plays it in the air.
Stani how are we going to improve the coach leaves for Australia after every series and comes back only a week or two before the next series, I am not sure what the players do in the mean time. When do they work on their flaws?
Stani
Farhat is Doom Doom
Shafiq was playing nicely today but didn’t learned from his mistake in last match and didn’t dived a single was always there I think he runs a bit slower he is not a very tall guy has short strides, but today he was playing well.
BoomBoom Farhat! BommBoom as in self-destructs!
Shafiq just gone…the difference between their throws and ours. We only hit when the batsman is couple of miles in.
Pakistan gave 20 runs more than they should have due to their complacency in the last five overs. but they are playing a better side and are not playing at full strength so even a good fight should boost their confidence.
I like the way Pakistan are fighting at least they are playing positively in this match huge resposnibility on Younis now he will have to play a big innings here. looks in good touch.
Great bowling by Steyn after beating Hafeez on a few occasions outside the off stump in the last over he brought one back in and nailed Hafeez plumb in front of wickets, poor shot by Hafeez played acroos the line and missed the ball completely.
Afridi made a critical error of bringing in Hafeez and not bowling Shoaib his full quota I think Haffez broke the momentum and Wahab after taking two wickets on Waqar like yorkers bowled just garbage. Botha did hit some clean shots especially the reverse sweeps to Hafeez I don’t think he could have done much there only Afridi failed to place a fielder where three boundaries were given in one over if you don’t cover your bowlers then nobody can do anything.
Afridi made most of his decisions right through out the match but just lost it in last three overs. I think the team got complacent after getting two quick wickets.
Farhat will make it Stani.
Stani
It went straight into his gloves was a bit going away from him as it was a slashing edge but should have taken it he was standing too tall to be honest he hasn’t been impressive. But anyways Akmal would not have done any better behind the stumps in fact he gives us false hopes and then disappoints.Bottom line we will have to bear with these shitty players and shitty team.
Someone needs to make a century.
Given away too much. We wont make this.
I think the catch was a big deflection so cant really blame Haider. Farhat is a digrace.
Bad move by Afridi, there was no need to bring Hafeez at this stage when Akhtar had two over left and was bowling great.
After two good balls Wahab bowled two bad and spoiled his over.
Two great yorkers by Wahab and Pakistan are back in the match, he removed both Duminy and Miller. SOB Farhat dropped Duminy in the last over an easy catch that shows what we can expect from him while batting.
Another one missed by Haider. He has been pretty ordinary behind the wickets today.
Catch dropped by Haider on the bowling of Afridi not impressive at all.
Should Akhtar play in the test matches, I need input from every one what do you guys think does he look fit enough to play in tests or should Pakistan save him for the World cup.
The bowling change worked and Akhtar has removed the dangerous AB Devilliers, need one more.
Critical juncture in the match a few quick wickets will swing the match Pakistan’s way, Afridi made a good move by bringing Shoaib Akhtar but if Pakistan couldn’t take wickets at this stage then SA will be all set to score close to 300 will be a uphill task for our batting line up against Steyn & co.
Rahman did well in his 10 overs just gave 39 runs didn’t took any wickets but quite a few run outs and one stumping chance was missed on his bowling but overall it was good bowling by him better than what Ajmal has been doing in this series.
Wahab Riaz is looking out of sorts today usually he is a quite more aggressive in his first spell but today he hasn’t shown any aggression the wicket is quite flat but today Wahab didn’t used the length to intimidate the batsmen he tried to bowl wicket to wicket which was ok but at a certain point became too predictable.
Yaar PCB, these type of Mri’s we have seen many times in the past. He was clearly dropped after the two T20 quite rightly by Afridi and personally I don’t have any issue with that as he underperformed with the bat and was very poor in the field on multiple occassions one could see how frustrated Afridi was with him, then Intikhab Alam had a heart to heart talk with him, we all know there were other problems going on behind the scene, I think instead of covering up, the truth about a player should come out, if PCB thinks that a player is being dropped for not giving 100% then they should let the team management say it rather than covering up that puts no pressure on the player instead when they come back they come with an even more inflated ego.
Zulqernain Haider’s keeping has not been any better than Kamran Akmal in this series he has missed quite a few chances just in the last over he missed one run out and one stumping, his batting is zero in the shorter format. Serious dilema faced by the administration they can’t discipline Kamran Akmal and they haven’t fully developed another keeper for international cricket in last 7 years.
I agree Farhat should be dropped. Umar Akmal is injured – confirmed by MRI.
The passengers are not on the bus because they were not performing, everybody knows what Afridi’s views about Malik are and I think he was rightly dropped there has been no indication so far that he is a reformed player, if Afridi can drop Ajmal, Akmaland Misbah why can’t he drop Farhat, just look at SA’s team they went to full strength in todays match, and Pakistan dropped only Ajmal.
Strange on one hand the team management was contemplating to play Akmal as wicket keeper on the other hand he is declared injured.
SA are all set for a big total unless our bowlers pull them back in the middle overs. Our batsmen couldn’t handle Tsotobe how are they going to cope with Steyn and Parnell it would be interesting to watch.
Why are the passengers no longer on the bus? The passengers represent the squad. Even if the old passengers (senior players like Malik not currently in the squad) who tried to take control of the bus have gone, they will return at some point and other passengers will attempt to do the same (younger upcoming players), which is why Pakistan needs a strong (authoritative) bus driver.
I think a determined bus driver would take a bus on a route. I have not mentioned any punctured tyres, only commotion inside the bus and problems with the engine. What should the bus driver do – stop driving the bus (i.e. stop playing cricket)? He must do the best with what he has.
PCB
What’s the point of talking about passengers who are no longer on the bus it’s irrelevant.
Only a mentally retarded driver will take a bus with two tires punctured on a route. For his suicidal driving only he is responsible nobody else.
Its just like sitting in a bus whose driver is mentally challenged.
As Asim has already pointed out, this is not a normal bus. Every passenger at the front (i.e. the senior players) has tried to take control of the bus by driving it themselves by creating groups (take captaincy). If you put into the equation that the bus’ engine is not fully functional (selection) and also the fact that the bus drivers employer treats the driver like rubbish (PCB), and also things like the previous bus driver tried to drive the bus in the wrong way (Salman Butt – corruption), then why are we expecting a perfect bus driver? Will it not take time for the bus driver to become a good one?
Asim
Its your blog too, You have complete freedom to express yourself here. Sometimes there is a serious difference of opinion between me and other contributors to this blog but thats the whole point of blogging we pick a topic and have different opinions come forward about it from every where.
This post only reflects my frustration with afridi and not out right hatred.
Waseem, this is your blog and you have every reason to write whatever you feel like ….. as for your driver eg. if the driver is not given proper directions by the coaching (backroom) staff and has atleast two punctured wheels (ideal squad not given to him), you dont expect perfection from him and the team.
I still believe we are mainly loosing because of our lack of preparation by our coaching staff. Another glaring eg. was when Asad shafiq and Imran Farhat (mainly Asad) was unable to pick Botha ?!?! Botha I personally believe is not in the same class as saeed ajmal, but south african coaching staff did a much better job and negated his threat, whereas we are threatned by Botha and Duminy in the middle overs.
Captaincy, I have always been saying should be with Younis Khan …. why confuse an akhroat and let him play his natural game
Asim
I am not afraid of calling a spade a spade. Afridi has played like an idiot so he deserves to be called one. I have criticsed others also in the previous threads which you guys have completely ignored. This post was only meant for him.
The criticism on afridi does not in anyway exonerate others from their failures.
If you think that by averaging 19 in the series he has batted well or handled any bowler better than the others then its futile to have this argument. Besides the point here is not to question his abilities as a player but to question his mental approach which has been his major handicap through out his career.
Its just like sitting in a bus whose driver is mentally challenged. I don’t think he is capable of leading the side at least results in the last year suggest that. You might not agree with me but that’s your point of view and we can agree to disagree.
We have to admit that Afridi has been in situations in the last few games where he could have taken us home but didn’t. With just a bit of application instead of trying to be a hero. He was at it in England too.
The fact that he is continuing it must be because no one has pulled him up about it. He needs to be more responsible and accountable. If he doesn’t like it then he should hand the captaincy over. Then we will see what will happen to him if he plays like this as a regular member of the side! Then he will not have the captaincy as a free ticket to keep his place in the team.
Waseem, you are missing our point too …. we are not praising Afridi for his blunders … what we are trying to say is that you have written an entire blog and called him stupid and made him responsible for everything wrong happening with the team …. this was too much exaggeration as far as I am concerned. As far as captaincy is concerned, I completely agree that Younis should be the captain of tests,odi and T20 as well (yes t20 too) because we need a proper batsman in the lineup as well.
As for responsibility, everyone has to be responsible …. captain is not the only one who should be responsible in the playing eleven and if we have lost, the whole team should take the blame, not one individual. As for his batting position, if you are suggesting zulqarnain and the bowlers should bat ahead of him, then again this is really exaggeration
Specially in teh middle overs when we know we were unable to get many runs against the Botha and Duminy (except for younis and hafeez partnership in the first odi) and afridi is the only one who has really attacked Botha and played very well. Remember in the last odi how Farhat and Asad struggled against him? but still if you think he should bat at number 10 or 11, you have every right to have that opinion …. we cant force you to change that
Try to understand guys this licensce to be stupid should be revoked, he is capable of playing sensibly and in situations where only a little contribution from him can guarantee us a win then there is no need to take extra risks and commit suicide. If he is not smart enough to understand that or can’t control himself then he is not a leader.
My first choice is Younis for tests and Odis.
Asim/PCB
On one hand you guys are quoting his centuries and on the other you guys are trying to tell me that it’s not his responsibility to even react according to different match situations resposnibly, others should have done it.
Come on guys, he threw away his wicket on three occasions in a similar fashion I am not talking about him scoring a century like Razzaq all he should have done was to try to play responsibly like a good leader rather than trying to please the crowd.
I don’t buy the argument that he bowls 10 overs so he shouldn’t be considered as a main batsma, if he is not a good enough batsman then he should bat at #8.
There is no excuse for the way he bats. No matter what you guys say to defend him he deserves all the criticism because he has been playing like a complete idiot.
You guys are talking about the contribution of others Razzaq is averaging 61.5 in the series, Fawad 58, Farhat 47, Hafeez 34, Younis 24, Asad 21 and Afridi 19. Both Misbah and Younis could have had better averages if they were not given out wrongly in the second Odi.
He is in much better form than his contribution suggests and as a captain it was his duty to play responsibly, But regardless of everything a captain has a bigger responsibility, one can ignore his blunders once or twice but if they are happening too frequently then its a problem that needs to be fixed.
From your comments I get the impression that everybody else has to play their roles and should be held responsible for their failures except our “captain stupid”. Drop Farhat, drop Shahzaib, drop Akmal, drop Misbah are the usual rants but even if the captain fails in every innings his mistakes should not be criticized.
I don’t think so.
A guy with 16 years of experience and more than 330 Odis under his belt he should be able to have some match awareness and should display shot selection according to match situations.
Any tom dick and harry can go out and swing his bat around wildely and be successful once in a while if they play regular international cricket for 16 years. A captain has not only to formulate the plan but also has to implement it and if he is not doing his job then he can’t expect others to do it either, the captain of the team sets the tone and defines the work ethics of the whole team if he is going to shy away from hard work or selfless contributions then aothers will do the same.
Either you guys haven’t been reading my comments in the last thread or have forgotten them I have criticized every other player who has failed to implement his role, You might think that my criticism on Afridi is harsh or not justified but that is your opinion and I am entitled to my opinion, I can’t turn a blind eye toward his blunders.
As for Afridi centuries, I guess you should trace back and see how afridi scored those centuries, they were all full of high risk shots – my point exactly
Wasim, from your comments it seems like Afridi is the only inform player in our team, then I just wonder how Razzaq scored a 100 in the second odi, if a person scores a century in 70 odd balls he must be seeing ball like a football, so this time in the 3rd odi (the very next game) the task was much easier then then second odi, he should have carried the team as a batsman (remember his role in the team is to bowl 4-6 overs only (unlike afridi who has to bowl 10 overs) basically playing as a batting allrounder, this is exactly the role Imran Khan was playing in 92 worldcup) but guess what !! he threw his wicket away aimlessly (and this was not the first time he did that), and the less I talk about his fielding the better. So now can you please write another blog on how he failed and threw his wicket away and call him stupid allrounder …. just to repeat your words, if you are criticizing afridi, I think you should also criticize Razzaq, Saeed Ajmal, Zulqarnain in the same manner as well because they all have been making mistakes consistently.
As for Afridi centuries, I guess you should trace back and see how afridi scored those centuries, they were all full of high risk shots and I mentioned it in Stani’s blog or somewhere at that time too that many of the shots that he played against murali (by hitting him for sixes in each and every over) were all high risk shots but they all came off that night so we were praising him, had he mishit the first one we would have been running after his neck. We have to understand, this is how he plays, this is exactly how sehwag and dilshan play (they are much more polished form of afridi – not debating that) but they too take many risks, if they come off then they are heroes but this is how their management wants them to play because if they stay for 10-15 overs the match will be over in a flash and I still insist that the shot that he played was not a rash one. If his shot was rash then razzaq, younis, hafeez, zulqarnain, wahab and saeed ajmal were all rash shots, so dont single him out alone.
Just to sum it up, if our team needs to be successful then everyone has to understand their role in the team and play accordingly and this is where the role of coaching staff is very important …… and we all agree that everyone (including Afridi) has to take responsibility and contribute to the best of their ability like Fawad and Wahab did in the previous game, but its very unfair to criticize only one person and leave others, knowing this person who has brought back unity in the team under difficult circumstances and has been contributing in each and every match one way or the other …. but the way you have ridiculed him has really left a bad taste.
Wasim
Its no secret that Imran Khan actually was a batting all rounder towards the end of his career. He was actually in as good form as he had ever had been. Shahid Afridi’s style of batting should not be compared to Imran Khan’s. The only format in which Shahid Afridi can even be considered to hold a key batting position (3,4,5) is in T20.
We do criticise Fawad, Shafiq and Farhat, and they did perform last match to an extent, but how many times has Farhat failed before this? Do I need to remind you he is a specialist batsman? Same for Shafiq/Alam, in the 8 ODI’s they have played since August, how many times have they performed like a specialist batsman. Shafiq has made too many low scores and Fawad has been way too slow creating pressure for other batsman. How was it that Pak were 98-3 after 28 overs in the last ODI?
The point you are missing is that Afridi’s biggest strength is also his weakness. As I have said, Shahid Afridi should not be turned into a specialist batsman type player – although he should take more responsibility – but this blog criticises him like he has been out within the first few balls for the whole of his captaincy. How can justify this statement ‘PCB should get rid of ”Captain stupid” if they sincerely want the team to perform in the next world cup’
As I have said, Afridi should be criticised like Farhat/Misbah/Alam if he has weaknesses, but they are specialist batsman making their mistakes time and time again. Afridi contributes significantly in the bowling and fielding departments than any of those players and also has the burden of captaining the Pakistan team.
There is no interference with the tour selection committee, but tell me who should he have played instead of Farhat? It is clear that Umar Akmal is injured – it is no fake story because he has had an MRI scan. Shahzaib is as good as Saeed Ajmal with the bat it seems from his performance in the T20′s. The choice he was left with was Misbah/Farhat, – I would have preferred Misbah, but with your comments, you make out that he picked Farhat ahead of every batsmen in the country.
I have quoted his 100′s and this does show he can stay at the wicket but why cannot the specialist batsman stay at the wicket and make 100. Afridi cannot make big scores all the time like you suggest because those big scores are not off many balls – he plays aggressively and positively – which is what make him so good.
Explain how he is a dummy captain, because I can’t understand how you can blame Afridi for having a squad he didn’t pick.
Younis Khan resigned because he wanted to drop a few key players who underperformed under him and Ijaz Butt refused. – wrong up to nine players were rebelling against him. Malik revealed all this along with Yousuf and it is no secret.
Tell me, who else can be captain?
In essence, the point you are making in comparing Afridi’s batting with other batters is like comparing Razzaq’s/Hafeez’s bowling with Akhtar’s/Gul’s/Ajmal’s. They all have different strengths, and you need to realise Afridi’s is to play positive aggressive cricket not to block – although I agree he could take more time.
Stani
He got rid of Misbah, kept Akmal out of the team one more poor performance and he will leave Younis out too.
I don’t bend the figures to make players look bad, I only disect figures to show the actual impact made by a player with his performance because statistics don’t reveal every thing unless you disect them.
PCB
If Imran Khan had played the World cup 1992 by your logic then he would have never won it. He promoted himself to #3 and performed and showed his team mates the way by example.
In comparison we have this nut case who wasted several opportunities due to his brainless batting.
We criticised Fawad, Shafiq and Farhat but they all performed in the last match didn’t they? Good or bad but they contributed significantly and the match could have won if Afridi had planned the remaining run chase.
We can continue to argue for the sake of argument but the point here is very simple he has been playing irresponsibly, others are struggling either because of their form or inherent handicaps but Afridi on more than few occasions got out to poor shot selection there is nothing wrong with his form.
Every player gets judged in the manner he excutes his role in the team, we criticised Farhat for not providing us good starts or for batting selfishly we criticised Misbah for not playing the role of an anchor and not contributing significantly even though he out scored the rest of the players in the two T20 matches and was adjudged Lbw wrongly in the second Odi. We criticised Fawad for not being able to clear the boundaries, so why we can’t criticise Afridi who on three occasions threw away his wicket to unforced mental errors at a critical juncture of the match.
If he can drop Misbah and Akmal he could also have dropped Farhat. I don’t think Ijaz Butt is interfering with the tour selection committee.
The ankle injury is just a story to satisfy the media. We have seen the team management pulling such stunts in the past.
By quoting his 100′s you proved my point. That shows he can stay on the wicket if he wants to and is in form, and is only throwing his wicket because of his own unforced mental errors.
Do I have to explain how he is a dummy captain? Isn’t it obvious.
YK resigned because he wanted to drop a few key players who underperformed under him and Ijaz Butt refused.
Afridi deserves all the criticism or else we have no right to criticise the Akmals or the Farhats in the team they have also contributed in the same manner.
Wasim, I think he has taken his eye off the ball recently. Maybe it has something to do with the return of Misbah and more so with that of Younis. Before, these guys were out of the way and Afridi was the main man and he could concentrate on him and the team etc. Now they are back and rather than being captain, he has his attention on them and is fearing the captaincy maybe removed from him. The clearest evidence is that when the squads were announced for the UAE games, a captain was named until sometime afterwards. Clearly they were considering removing him.
I have also noticed that you tend to analyse players by taking out their big scores and quoting the average of the other scores – the story will be the same for every batter as Asim has highlighted.
Wasim
I am not missing the point here. What you are saying is that as a senior player and captain of the team who is in good form, he should take more responsibility with the bat. I agree, but the extent of the criticism is unjustified because there are 7 other batters in the team who are also not performing, and Afridi cannot be singled out in this.
Younis resigned not because he did not get the squads he wanted, but because there was a major player revolt and it is no secret some players deliberately underperformed and acted against him. He got Shahzaib and Wahab, but these are two players – he wanted Shoaib Malik for example, who would have been very useful in the middle order with his experience. Also, he played Farhat because it has been confirmed that Umar Akmal was injured and he was due to play – this is not a fake story. Instead of Farhat he could have played Shahzaib (who has completely failed at international level as shown in the T20′s) or Misbah who failed in the first two games.
How is he a dummy captain? Like I have just explained, he has done his best to pick the players he wanted and pick the best players to win matches.
As for Afridi’s batting, please tell me because I cannot recall many other players hitting hundreds for Pakistan in ODI’s recently other than Razzaq this week, Afridi in Asia Cup and Shoaib Malik in Champions Trophy last year. I cannot recall any others. Remember Afridi is not a specialist batsmen, and although we are aware of his ability to make big runs every match if he takes some time, he is most effective when he has licencse to hit and the other batsmen have set a good platform.
I do not think Afridi was acting as a saint, but my point is other than Younis (who has said he does not want the captaincy), who else can be captain? We need a strong captain for the next 4-5 years and Afridi is such a character and senior experienced player to do the job – results with improve he gets more experience tactically and also through consistent selection.
I think there is too much criticism on Afridi.
Asim
Who else has thrown his wicket on 3 occasions in the series?
Just check the scorecards for all the matches in this series and then decide what was required from our captain when he came into bat and what he did before you blindly start defending him.
I am not doubting his abilities so you don’t have to quote me his averages as I have quoted them myself in the post, my only problem with him is the way he throws away his wicket, you might think that his stroke was not rash in the last match but in reality it was, Afridi was not settled he had only faced four balls in the innings all he needed was to play ground shots for a couple of overs and then gradually launch.
We keep on giving him margin for being stupid or being over aggressive. Had he failed because of lack of form you would not have seen this post. He is not taking responsibility as a captain and a fragile team like Pakistan needs a leader with a big heart and a smart brain, Afridi has neither one of them, he is allergic to hard work at crease and wants to get over with it in two overs.
Is it a crime to criticize him for not using his brain and not employing proper temprament, planning and Patience in his batting? We have lost countless matches because of his rashness.
And what proof do you have besides your blind faith in him that he is not just playing stupid.
Is Shahzaib Punjabi or Farhat and Misbah are from Karachi? That is just a ridiculous accusation you made. I have never spared any player from Punjab for his poor performance. Nor I have unneccessarily praised anyone because of regionalism.
South Africa will go full strength in the next match to win the series, they will play Steyn and Smith.
I am not sure what Pakistan can do to counter the saffers, the tour selection committee has made some bizzarre moves in the last match, I don’t think the new comers due to lack of match practice will have any impact on the match. The changes will only make the team look strong on paper.
Rahman hasn’t played any match so far and keeping in view that Ajmal has been bowling during powerplays I don’t think Rahman will be able to do anything better unless Afridi chooses himself to bowl during power plays.
Akmal and Misbah looked out of form but sitting out on the bench didn’t helped them either.Shahzaib won’t be able to handle Steyn, Afridi will not only have to change the line up but will also have to change the batting line up and he will have to assume more responsibility alongwith Razzaq.
First of all its the job of batsman who are playing as specialist batsmen to win the games with their batting and score majority of the runs and Afridi is not the only batsman in the team who have been throwing their wickets away. In yesterday’s match Afridi didnt get out playing a rash shot so Wasim I am sorry but you are being very critical for something that didnt happen yesterday.
If you really think Afridi hasnt contributed then please do have a look at his batting average in 2010, in the 16 games that he has played his average is 34, which I believe is much better then many top order batsmen in our team (Salman butt has averaged 26 in this period and Yousuf has averaged 19, mind you yusuf is not playing only because he is injured otherwise he for sure will be part of the team) so he qualifies to play in the team as a batsman, even our most successful player in this period, Umar Akmal has averaged 31 in 2010, please dont give the excuse that Afridi’s average is skewed because of two centuries, first of all atleast he scored two centuries, others who are playing as specialist batsmen have not been able to score even a single big score specially in this period, when their role in the team is only to make big scores and enable the team to win the games and also just for the sake of argument, if I remove these two centuries from his 548 runs in this year he will be averaging 23, still he is averaging better then Yusuf …… if I do the same thing with Salman butt and remove his two big scores then he has averaged mere 7.5 runs in 2010. So do you still want to be critical of Afridi and his batting? there is no question he can improve but to accusse him the way you have done, this is UNJUSTIFIED !! and dont remember in the last 12 months we have been playing against Australia, England and South Africans (all top teams).
Even in the second odi that we won it was afridi who revived our chances with his quick fire 49 and also he is bowling better then Ajmal these days (although we know he is not a great bowler against left handers) and for sure he is one of the better fielders in the team, I agree he deserves to get some flak at times but no need to kick him out of the team or corner him …. the main problem which was highlighted yesterday by Kepler Wessles as well Mike Haysman was that our top order, players who are playing in the team as batsmen are not performing and leaving too much for the all rounders and bowlers. If we are really critical then we should be critical of the shot that was played by Razzaq in yesterday’s match, Afridi’s shot yesterday was just a square-cut sort of a glide between point and thirdman for a couple so it was not a high risk shot that Razzaq attempted.
As for the team spirit under his captaincy I think the way the team has performed under him in England ODI (after fixing allegations) and in this south african series, the team spirit is quite high and that can be clearly seen from the way shoaib akhtar has been contributing. We are not losing games one sided as we used to earlier, even our tailenders are trying their best to win the games with the bat and this talks volumes about the team spirit. Also not to forget the squad is not the one that he chose, but forced upon by our chairman.
Last but not the least, we should stop thinking emotionally and start blaming our players after one close game, instead we should support them and hope and pray that they will win the next two onedayers. So we should stop talking about regional cricket bias, from your posts its quite clear that you have personal grudge against players from Karachi, my request is that you should think as a Pakistani because we are Pakistanis and we should support players who perform for Pakistan, whether he is Wahab Riaz from Lahore or Fawad Alam from Karachi for their efforts and contribution. Think like a Pakistani because its Pakistan that we are supporting not Lahore, Karachi, Peshawar etc. !!!
SP
You know my pick.
PCB
You are missing a point here, he is not out of form its his carefree attitude which is harming us more, the captaincy burden if anything should have made him bat cautiously but he shows no caution.
If in his opinion PCB is not giving him a team based on merit then he should resign like Younis, he wanted Shahzaib and Wahab he got both of them.
He is free to pick the playing eleven, why did he picked Farhat in the last match?
Nobody told him to become a dummy captain it’s his own choice.
Do you actually think that during all that infighting Afridi was acting as a saint, if you have been following the news since Inzi retired this guy has been a major pain in the neck of all the captains.
I would prefer Younis as captain across all three formats, but that can only happen if Younis wants the captaincy and it must happen before NZ series
Of course Afridi isn’t playing to his potential but as I have pointed out this is as a result of the burden of captaincy. Although he has played irresponsibly on occasions, I believe that the intent has always been positive. He also bowls himself in the toughest and most important situations.
I think his problems in this series come from the fact that he hasn’t been given the squad he wanted. He said himself that he and Razzaq ideally like coming in with 10 overs to go. Had he been given the squad he wanted, maybe the batting would be better.
His win/loss ratio may not be better as other captains, but I put to you how many of those other captains that we are discussing have caused infighting etc whereas Afridi is pushing for unity and also having to deal with the consequences of the past infighting – e.g. 7 players banned, then unbanned, now corruption allegations etc.
I didn’t think you were accusing me of bias. I just said that just in case you thought I may be biased because of my post.
What made you believe that I was accusing you of any bias. The refernces made in he post were not directed toward you they were pointed toward several Pakistani main stream sports journalists.
I think I have presented all the facts fairly.
And the objective of this post was in no way to prove Afridi a worthless player, infact the point here was that he hasn’t been playing to his potential and not playing resposnibly as a captain of a struggling team should.
I have highlighted his batting average in both the matches that we won and we lost under him, those are the actual figures and have not been made up by me so I don’t think that I have been unfair with him.
I can bear with a dip in form but he is not having issues with his form he is at the peak of his form he is hitting the ball as cleanly as he has ever done in his career the only thing I am criticizing is his irresponsibility.
In four matches so far in this series he had only one good innings and three failures and on two occassions if he had batted a bit sensibly we could have won easily. The last match is a perfect example, he batted with no sense of responsibility and from the second ball he started hitting his big shots had he stayed on the wicket for two more overs Pakistan would have win the match comfortably.
Any player can get out at any time, but if you make a habit of getting out in a certain manner then that is a behavior problem, his behavior has been very careless totally free of any remorse he doesn’t evaluate the risk before playing his high risk shots there is hardly any planning involved in his batting, I think such behavior is very dangerous for our team especially when it is coming from the captain.
His batting approach is kind of like ” Lag gaya tu teer nahin tu tuka” .
I don’t expect him to score 50 in every match but I don’t expect him to get out in less than 10 balls on his 70% outings. A player can make 20 runs but if he is involved in a 60 run partnership that increases the value of those 20 runs as compared to a person who scores 10-20 runs in less than 10 balls and then throws away his wicket.
Imran didn’t became great captain because he was a great player, he became great because he always used to lead by example. Picked the most difficult task for himself never shyed away from hard work, but this guy feels as if the heaven will fall or his brain will explode if he will attempt to play a grinding innings.
You can’t hand over leadership of a team like Pakistan to a guy who has no guts no determination and no intelligence.
He is only as clean as others, but clearly guilty of being irresponsible on many occassions. Whether it is inherent inability to make smart choices or deliberate underperformance we can’t prove but one thing is for sure that either way he has not been fullfilling his role as a player or as a captain to his ability.
I am not interested in comparing him to other captains as his record is no where near the others, you can check the W/L ratio of other captains.
Also let’s have a look at the other candidates:
Misbah Ul – Haq – no point because the captain has to be a long term selection
Yousuf – no point because the captain has to be a long term selection, and also tactically weak
Younis – doesn’t want the captaincy with everything that happened last year, but might accept the test captaincy because he is such a major player in tests
Malik – good tactically and long term prospect. But he has been proved to have done too much harm in the past and by returning as captain he will only pick the players who he feels will support him.
At least Shahid Afridi is a long term captain for Pakistan which will provide them with some much needed stability in ODI’s and tests and hence a more stable and experienced nucleus set of players through consistent selection. It is also clear he wants the team to be a unit, something which is not as evident under Malik
Wasim
I am very surprised by you from from this post. I expect a fair view on the events. I am not from Karachi or Lahore and so I cannot be accussed of any bias.
We all know it is not easy to lead the Pakistan team, especially as an all rounder and with the board like the PCB, so a dip in performance is to be expected – the example of Andrew Flintoff is the best one. He will improve tactically as a captain as time goes by. The team’s overall performance is clearly being let down by the batting, especially the specialist batsmen – it is unfair to throw all this resposibility on Afridi, even if he was irresponsible in his batting, because 1 player alone cannot cause defeat.
As for him being a dummy captain, without his influence, I can tell you I know that Yousuf, Razzaq and Akhtar were only in the team because of him.
Also, how do you feel about him not being consulted on selection? – how could he stand up to Farhat’s selection if he didn’t choose the squad? Remember he did not choose Farhat for England ODI’s. A captain’s true ability can only be assessed if he can play the team he wants in the manner he wants.
The team reached the WC T20 semi finals – you seem to have neglected this point. He is also a clean captain who has authority over players, – the last thing we need now is a weak captain. Younis has made it clear he does not want the captaincy, but he might accept the Test one.
captain boomed boomed…
captain doomed doomed…
take your pick…