Afridi-Laxman tiff: War of words heats up

[Kartikey]

http://www.cricketnext.com/news/afridi-has-no-team-ethics-says-laxman/33851-13.html Mumbai: Team Hyderabad’s skipper and Test star V V S Laxman has reminded Pakistan’s flamboyant cricketer Shahid Afridi that it was a collective failure which led to the team finishing last in the inaugural Indian Premier League (IPL) Twenty20 and he had no business to blame the captain alone. "Afridi has no team ethics. Speaking negatively about the team in public, let alone the captain, is just not on. Being an experienced cricketer, he should not be questioning the way the team functions. I am really shocked to say the least. He should know that it was a collective failure because he was part of the team. It is unfortunate that he chose to blame the captain for it," Laxman said on Monday. Laxman was reacting to Afridi’s comments to a Pakistani news channel that former Aussie wicketkeeper-batsman Adam Gilchrist would be a better choice to lead Team Hyderabad and that Twenty20 would not suit Laxman’s style of play and was found wanting on the field despite not living up to the expectations of being a big hitter himself. Laxman, who fractured his hand after leading the side in six games of which he could win just one, pointed out that a captain can only be as good as the team and a single person cannot be held responsible for failure in a team game like cricket. "Probably it is time someone told Afridi that a captain can only be as good as the team and to blame only me is totally out of place. The truth is that the team did not perform to its potential and every player should take the blame for it and try and comeback strongly in the next edition instead of blaming each other," the elegant middle order batsman said. Pointing out that the team could win just one match in the next eight games after his injury forced him out of the team, Laxman said, "it was unfortunate and frustrating to sustain the injury when things were looking up as four out of the five matches that we lost under my captaincy were very close and could have gone either way." "There was not much I could do after I fractured my hand and heeded the team’s request to travel with it. So just being with the team does not mean I was influencing the decisions on the field. Gilchrist was totally in charge of the game once he took over from me and being a true professional, he does not take orders from others and was instrumental in making the decisions in the middle," he added.

[Sachinism]

Afretard proved how big a retard he is I hope Lax doesn't play him in the team

[DadaRocks]

Afridi is right ...Laxman poor captaincy was main reason of his side failure in IPL even with big stars in the team. Warne team didnt had big stars except Akmal & Tanvir but they won cuz of aggressive captaincy.

[Laaloo]

This retard needs to grow up. Drop this paki out of IPL

[DomainK]

Afridi is the biggest retard in the world. And who the hell is he to question anyone else about responsibility? When ever he had to chose between a six and his team, he always chose to go for a six......and the loser does not even get that six.

[Fontaine]

Is there another player in international cricket that is so over hyped than Afridi? The guy has million dollar talent with a ten cent head.

[Dravid]

lol, and afridi really kicked ass with the bat in ipl eh? :haha: ok..vvs was 1 outts 6... then what? they still kept losing... moron being a moron..

[Rohan495]

Whats new guys, Afridi just keeps runnin his mouth non stop. If Laxman was a cruel man then Afridi would be dumped by the charger management. We dont need Afridi useless fool needs to understand that he showed no responsibility. In terms of batting Afridi has no right to talk he was useless with the bat didnt even score one useful knock Laxman even did better than him

[Rohan495]

Afridi is right ...Laxman poor captaincy was main reason of his side failure in IPL even with big stars in the team. Warne team didnt had big stars except Akmal & Tanvir but they won cuz of aggressive captaincy.

Really atleast when Laxman captained most of the matches were nail bighters. When Gilchrist took over it was mostly teams trashing the crap out of the chargers besides Afridi has no right to talk i hope Charger management is smart enough to somehow get rid of this useless overhyped cricketer he sucked all IPL showed no intent or responsibility. Laxmans stats werent even bad especially for the price he was purchased at. This afridi guy should understand that because of Laxmans words to the management he was selected to play for the chargers.

[MalikBrother]

if PCB couldn't drop Afridi, then i hope to see Laxman convinces owner to drop Afridi forever from IPL. I have had enough with Afridi. You can't blame an individuals and most importantly, a captain? That too, in a public? He has let down Pakistan many times. He should be last person to criticize any batman considering his perform is not up to professional. It's all team fault.

[kablooee87]

1. Afridi should consider his own performance and assess the negative impact he had on the team before spouting off about anything else. 2. Comments like "[player A] is a a better fit for [role] than [player B]" from team members belong in private discussion, not in the news media. Those 2 things being given, the point he made can't really be argued with, unless you talk about non cricketing factors. And even then, it's a stretch. PS. All the people saying he was useless during the IPl need to be reminded of his bowling performance.

[Rajiv]

1) Afridi is his usual 2) Laxman shouldn't play 20-20 anyways

[cowboysfan]

afridi should just shut up put its painful to watch laxman in T20's.

[Feed]

Afridi tones down but insists Laxman lacks aggression Shahid Afridi denied undermining the authority of VVS Laxman, his IPL captain, but maintained that Laxman lacks aggression. More... Afridi tones down but insists Laxman lacks aggression Agencies Posted online: Tuesday , September 02, 2008 at 1715 hrs IST Karachi, September 2: : Pakistani all-rounder Shahid Afridi denied undermining the authority of VVS Laxman, his captain at Deccan Chargers, but maintained that the Indian lacks aggression. The flamboyant all-rounder started a war of words with Laxman with his unflattering remarks that the Indian lacked both aggression and leadership qualities. Afridi also felt that Adam Gilchrist would have been a better skipper for the Deccan Chargers who cut a sorry figure in the inaugural edition of the Indian Premier League. Stung by Afridi's remarks, Laxman said the Pakistani lacked team ethics and criticised him for his outburst without any provocation. Seeking to placate Laxman, Afridi said he was being misunderstood but maintained that Laxman was not aggressive enough. "Perhaps what I said about the Chargers team on the television show has come out a bit too strong but my only point was that Laxman needs to be more aggressive on the field," Afridi said on Tuesday. "There was neither any intention to demean Laxman's stature or contribution as a player and captain nor to create a controversy. I was asked a simple question and I answered it honestly," Afridi said. Once again making it clear that he was less than impressed by Laxman's captaincy, Afridi said, "I still maintain that Laxman needs to be more aggressive on the field and push his players. In Twenty20 cricket the captain pushes and motivates the players it is such a short game. I just felt that Laxman should have played a bit more on the front foot instead of the back foot," Afridi said. He also made it clear that it was his personal opinion that Gilchrist was a better captain. "There is no question of me violating team ethics. I know I disappointed my fans and captain and management in the IPL and I aim to make amends in the next season. In fact I did say clearly that only Gilchrist, Rohit Sharma and Laxman had made some good contributions in the IPL but we didn't click as a team," said Afridi who himself was a big flop with the bat.

[Bhiku Mhatre]

With Symonds attitude towards serious cricket in big doubt now, and this spat between Laksman - Afridi, not sure how can Chargers come back good next season :nervous: I see some other teams are doing great things in off season to search for new talent, is there any news on all IPL teams on what they are doing for preparing for next season ?

[kumble_rocks]

Drop Afretard for good .He is a cancer in the dressing room , be it in Pakistan or for Deccan Chargers. Good to see Pak posters coming out against this fool. Malik or Laxman are far better leaders than this retard . He is not even fit to captain a team of 5 year old's ..

[ucilite]

Agree that Afridi has no business criticizing Laxman, but seriously, Lax doesn't deserve a place in 2020.

[MalikBrother]

Agree that Afridi has no business criticizing Laxman' date=' but seriously, Lax doesn't deserve a place in 2020.[/quote'] Neither does Afridi. At least Laxman is trying his best.

[DadaRocks]

Neither does Afridi. At least Laxman is trying his best.

20/20 was made for Afridi...

[Holysmoke]

20/20 was made for Afridi...

Not really,if there's something for afridi, its more like 2/2