The mystery of Shahid Afridi.

[MundaPakistani]

Drop him from Test for good(by the way drop Razzak, Rana and other bits and pieces players too). . I will play him in LOI but lets not expect him to be a maverick. He should come at 6,7 and ready to tonk when needed. He wont fire in every game but would come good once every 5th 6th LOI and when he comes good he can win the game on his own. His bowling is very handy, definitely better than Malik or Razzak or even Rana. And his fielding is electric. Pick him in LOI but drop him in Test. And please drill into him that he plays for Pakistan and not Pathan-istan. xxxx

Yeah that problem unfortunately still exists..i have even seen some of the very educated people brag about their caste, their father's accomplishments, the city they were born in etc.Even though such behavior is totally against the basic idea of Islam yet i have never since any of the so called 'Mullahs' bring it up and speak against it but anyways that's another topic for another day. In test cricket considering his impressive record dont you think that before chucking him out for good he should be given a few more chances?

He is absolute trash. No regard to situation' date=' no patience, just wild swings at the bat. For some reason the facker seems to bat very well against us.[/quote']

that Pak fans cant move on is suprising ... he is a club hack ... plays with no regard to team situation or need. Slam bang thank you ma'am

That's one of the main problems with both Afridi and some fans...Afridi obviously needs to be more responsible but reading such posts i get the impression that people consider him a batsman whobowls now as i have already pointed out that in the last 4 or 5 years he has been on par with the likes of H Singh and Vettori yet people continue to see him as a batsman. So is it fair to say that his talent with the bat is the only cause why people don't pay attention to his bowling?

[Lurker]

In test cricket considering his impressive record dont you think that before chucking him out for good he should be given a few more chances?

MP, I dont think his Test records are impressive. His batting average is in mid 30s and if you take India out it falls further. His bowling is not good enough to get him 2 wickets per test on an average overall. So he is neither a decent batsman not a decent bowler. At best he is a bits and pieces player and you have that in Malik anyway. If you bring in Razzak and Afridi now you have 3 of them and your side gets weaker. In LOI you can get away with it but not in Test cricket. xx

[living]

The guy has fantastic hand eye co-ordination .... if only someone could knock some sense into his brain .... to develop a basic defensive technique ... But you gotta admire the guys guts to keep going the bang-bang route even at the risk of his career.

Actually I remember an innings he played in Sharjah, when he scored at like a SR of 60 till the he reached 50-55 runs, and then went ballistic. I thought he'd learned then. Only to watch him throw his wicket again in the next innings. I doubt he's going to change now, its too late. He has been established as a 'Sehwag' type (or maaybe it was Sehwag who was identified as 'afridi' type) so to speak, if he keeps giving one match winning performance every 4-5 games. Pak won't mind. If he fails well then he can join Sehwag on the sidelines - that's seems to be their decision. However I think Pak can only afford to play one "match winner/ utility cricketer" either Afridi or Razzak.

[MundaPakistani]

MP, I dont think his Test records are impressive. His batting average is in mid 30s and if you take India out it falls further. His bowling is not good enough to get him 2 wickets per test on an average overall. So he is neither a decent batsman not a decent bowler. At best he is a bits and pieces player and you have that in Malik anyway. If you bring in Razzak and Afridi now you have 3 of them and your side gets weaker. In LOI you can get away with it but not in Test cricket. xx

I am surprised that you don't think that his test record is impressive because if you go by pure stats then his record is on par with A Flintoff.

[Predator_05]

Razzak is a far better cricketer than Afridi. He is underappreciated by the p@ki fans at the expense of losers like Afridi.

[living]

I am surprised that you don't think that his test record is impressive because if you go by pure stats then his record is on par with A Flintoff.

Good point, yet people go gaga over Flintoff and Afridi seems to be fading away ...

[Predator_05]

Flintoff is in another league when compared to Afridi. No contest. I wouldn't even mention their names in the same breath. Don't let Flintoff's overall record fool you. After the 2003 World Cup (when he finally came of age and started playing his best cricket) 'til date, Flintoff has played 46 tests, scored 2738 runs at an average 38 with 4 hundreds and 22 fifties. With the ball, he has taken 164 wickets at an average of 28. Like a true all-rounder he has been top class with both bat and ball. He was the man of the series when England toured India last year

[Bumper]

And to add to that, Flintoff managed two of England's BIGGEST FEATS in tests in over a decade: He was the Man of the Series in both the Ashes win in 2005 and the series draw in India in 2006. No allrounder has bettered this, in this decade, going by my recent memory

[Lurker]

I am surprised that you don't think that his test record is impressive because if you go by pure stats then his record is on par with A Flintoff.

MP, Frankly there is little comparison between Freddi and Afridi. The former is a true all-rounder who gets inside English team purely as a batsman or as a bowler. Afridi on the other hand would be hard pressed to get inside Pakistan as either. I wouldnt bother you with compliments about Freddie but just let you recall that even the mighty Aussie team of today have conceded on more than one occassion that Flintoff could walk into their team, dont see that happening for Afridi(or for that matter most, if not all, International players perhaps only Murali). As for their statistical comparison, Flintoff has a big lever over Afridi when it comes to bowling. The former takes wicket @3 per Test, and in recent times close to 4. Afridi has wickets at less than 2 apiece. Afridi does have a better batting record but take away India and his batting falls around what Flintoff has done. xx

[MundaPakistani]

MP, Frankly there is little comparison between Freddi and Afridi. The former is a true all-rounder who gets inside English team purely as a batsman or as a bowler. Afridi on the other hand would be hard pressed to get inside Pakistan as either. I wouldnt bother you with compliments about Freddie but just let you recall that even the mighty Aussie team of today have conceded on more than one occassion that Flintoff could walk into their team, dont see that happening for Afridi(or for that matter most, if not all, International players perhaps only Murali). As for their statistical comparison, Flintoff has a big lever over Afridi when it comes to bowling. The former takes wicket @3 per Test, and in recent times close to 4. Afridi has wickets at less than 2 apiece. Afridi does have a better batting record but take away India and his batting falls around what Flintoff has done. xx

I have followed their careers right from the start and there is no doubt in my mind that Flintoff is far more useful cricketer and i would pick him over Afridi any day how ever their stats are similar as i don't see any good reason why you would want to exclude IND.

[Rajiv]

Faisal I can't say I am a true fan but I will arrange some time to watch him live or tape it and watch I will enjoy his sixers and I will be glad when he gets out just to justify myself that he is just lucky and isn't the greatest bat I can safely say the above is similar to many Indian cricket fans even if they deny it He pulls the crowd, and actually walks parallel to our thinking here, for eg., " a confident 25 was better than that pathetic 62 with singles etc "

[MundaPakistani]

Faisal I can't say I am a true fan but I will arrange some time to watch him live or tape it and watch I will enjoy his sixers and I will be glad when he gets out just to justify myself that he is just lucky and isn't the greatest bat I can safely say the above is similar to many Indian cricket fans even if they deny it He pulls the crowd, and actually walks parallel to our thinking here, for eg., " a confident 25 was better than that pathetic 62 with singles etc "

Very well said Rajeev. I would never ever say that he is one of my fav batsmen as i feel that i would be almost disrespecting the game by saying that how ever i would also not deny that when he gets going then is hardly a more entertaining sight in cricket.

[Rajiv]

..I am waiting for the chinese to adopt the game completely, lets see what they bring into this game! Frankly Afridi can do very very well in Baseball

[Lurker]

I have followed their careers right from the start and there is no doubt in my mind that Flintoff is far more useful cricketer and i would pick him over Afridi any day how ever their stats are similar as i don't see any good reason why you would want to exclude IND.

MP, Let me just say that Afridi remains one of the characters of cricket and I say that as a compliment. Sure his stats are not as impressive as say a Youhana or a Mohammed Asif but more fans come in to watch Afridi play than any other Pakistani cricketer. I would not be surprised if more non-Pakistani fans come to watch Afridi in action than all the Pakistani cricket players put together! When afridi played some games in India as part of asian xi he was cheered as much, if not more, than Indian cricketers. In that sense Afridi is a throwback to earlier eras where characters where celebrated. People like Gilbert Jessop and Keith Miller and not today's cricket where a performance is more important. But that said we do live in today's era where cricket is a profession and if you dont deliver then well you lose your job. I can not see how Afridi has delivered consistently for Pakistan and so he gets the boot. Of course if you make the argument that he is better than those who would replace him that is a different argument altogether. xxx

[Predator_05]

I remember Rameez Raja mentioning this one incident regarding Afridi during the PAK vs ENG test series last winter. PAK were playing ZIM at Peshawar (Pathan land) and they won the toss. The crowd wanted Afridi, so he opened in that game. The crowd went wild, but to their dismay - the idiot got out for a duck. His dismissal sparked a mini-riot in the stands while the majority of the crowd headed for the exits the moment he got out !

[MundaPakistani]

Razzak is a far better cricketer than Afridi. He is underappreciated by the p@ki fans at the expense of losers like Afridi.

Back in 99/00 time frame i rated A Razzaq as the best PAK ODI player in a team which included the likes of Saeed, Wasim, Waqar, Saqlain etc but now he has totally gone down hill to a point that it seems that he doesn't even want to be on the field.

MP, Let me just say that Afridi remains one of the characters of cricket and I say that as a compliment. Sure his stats are not as impressive as say a Youhana or a Mohammed Asif but more fans come in to watch Afridi play than any other Pakistani cricketer. I would not be surprised if more non-Pakistani fans come to watch Afridi in action than all the Pakistani cricket players put together! When afridi played some games in India as part of asian xi he was cheered as much, if not more, than Indian cricketers. In that sense Afridi is a throwback to earlier eras where characters where celebrated. People like Gilbert Jessop and Keith Miller and not today's cricket where a performance is more important. But that said we do live in today's era where cricket is a profession and if you dont deliver then well you lose your job. I can not see how Afridi has delivered consistently for Pakistan and so he gets the boot. Of course if you make the argument that he is better than those who would replace him that is a different argument altogether. xxx

Lurker he has been dropped on several occasions...the mere fact that he has only played 26 test matches in 11 years proves that. In ODIs you can argue that he shouldn't have played as many matches as he has but at the same time you have to realize that it's very difficult to drop players with such immense talent, it's the exact reason why people like M Sami and M Ramprakash have ended up playing so many test matches for their respective countries. .

[King]

Too much hype and less substance. I don't know why he is a frequent among Pakistani fans when he has just about 1000+ runs in test cricket. Without a look at his stats I can say he must hardly of decent average outside Pakistan and India. He is the FTB of the highest order and Pakistan for some reason has always invested players with terrible attitude such as Akthar or Afridi. At best he is someone that can throw his bat around and claim a wicket or two in a test match. That is just not good enough for a test team spot unless of course Pakistan is bereft of decent batting and bowling talent.

[King]

BTW a very good ODI player Afridi is.

[MundaPakistani]

Seems like the general opinion is that even though he averages 38 with the bat and 34 with the ball he should NOT be a part of the test team and TBH i agree with that view point.

Too much hype and less substance. I don't know why he is a frequent among Pakistani fans when he has just about 1000+ runs in test cricket. Without a look at his stats I can say he must hardly of decent average outside Pakistan and India. He is the FTB of the highest order and Pakistan for some reason has always invested players with terrible attitude such as Akthar or Afridi. At best he is someone that can throw his bat around and claim a wicket or two in a test match. That is just not good enough for a test team spot unless of course Pakistan is bereft of decent batting and bowling talent.

Which country would NOT have invested in a player like Shoaib? Ever since that famous Calcutta test match in 1999 he was won countless games for PAK and he carries the 2nd best SR of any bowler since about 1930( only behind Waqar) so totally dropping a player of that quality would have been absolutely ludicrous.

[MundaPakistani]

How lucky those people are who have to watch TV for only 4 to 5 minutes :haha::giggle:. To me the day he came he had no future but is still playing and has almost played 250 matches. He is lucky that he was born in Pakistan and is representing them because no other country would have granted him permanent place like PCB. No team can afford a selfish, useless player like him! Despite having almost 250 ODI matches under his belt Pakistan people consider him as an in-experienced boy. I won´t discuss too much about Test matches because there he doesn´t deserve a place as drink-trowly man even :cantstop:. Afridi has really spoiled the fun of such a beautiful game. I feel ashamed to tell anybody here that this useless fellow has huge fan following in Pakistan :embaressed_smile:. That´s a huge insult to the game!

:confused_smile:37 ball 100 in the very 1st innings in international cricket?