Shahid Afridi always relished being Pakistan’s hero with bat or ball but such is the nature of the man, the role of T20 gun for hire is also a cap that fits him just fine.
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With his attacking approach to the game it is not surprising that having retired from the ODI arena after the World Cup, he is a much sought-after commodity in T20 cricket.
Fresh from a short-term stint with Northamptonshire in England, the 35-year-old has now arrived in the West Indies to play for the St Kitts & Nevis Patriots in the Carribean Premier League, where he spoke to Sport360 on the eve of their first match against Barbados tridents on Friday.
It comes a month after a landmark moment for Afridi and the rest of Pakistan as they hosted internationals for the first time at home since the terrorist attacks of 2009, with a series against Zimbabwe. “That was a great occasion for me, especially as a captain. The people enjoyed it and for all five games the crowd was full and that was a big moment,” Afridi said.
“It was very special for the Pakistan people. All credit goes to the cricket board and especially to the Zimbabwean government and the Zimbabwean cricket board. I think they took a brave decision and they really supported us on a difficult situation.”
The next time Afridi will be on the global stage will be the World T20 in India next year, where he will captain Pakistan. “I am leading the team and that will be my last World T20. My foundation’s tagline is ‘hope is not out’. I am always hoping for the best and I think we have a very good combination,” he added.
“We have some very good and talented guys that we tried out against Zimbabwe and we are going to do some more experiments. Then Before the World T20 I have already told the selection committee that I don’t want any changes in the team from 3 months before it starts.”
Towards the end of his international career in the longer forms of the game, Afridi became infamous for retiring only to then make a spectacular return to action. You can therefore forgive Pakistan fans for hoping to perhaps see him back in the 50-over or Test side.
Afridi, however, is content with a style of the game tailor-made for his flamboyance and desire for action out in the middle. When asked if he’ll be back in a Pakistan ODI shirt any time soon, he replied: “I enjoyed the last 20 years of playing one day cricket, so I don’t want to give a chance to a selection committee to think about me.
“I know myself and I think I know how my body is feeling. I am doing a lot of charity work so I want to give time to that as well. I think I am happy playing Twenty20 and this is not an age to take a lot of pressure.”
Since the end of the World Cup results have been poor for Pakistan in the ODI format. Three straight defeats at the hands of Bangladesh were followed by two victories over Zimbabwe. Afridi accepts his and Misbah ul-Haq’s retirement has hit the team hard, while it will take time for new captain Azhar Ali to become accustomed to the role.
Afridi though is also a man to look forward, rather than back. He insists he is not concerned about the quality of the national team but believes domestic cricket in Pakistan needs to improve.
“I think obviously after my retirement, and Misbah-ul-Haq as well, so two senior guys have retired. But I think we should focus on the new talent,” he said.
“But I am not really worried about the national team I am just worried about the domestic cricket. Domestic cricket should be very good, this is more important for our Pakistan team.”
Of the current Green Shirts, Afridi has been impressed by the recent form of Yasir Shah who took seven wickets in the first Test against Sri Lanka, however, at the same time he urges caution with the 29-year-old yet to be fully tested on tracks away from the sanctity and familiarity of the subcontinent.
“Yasir Shah has really done well in the sub-continent but we will see if in any series he will play outside of Asia like in England, South Africa or Australia and we will see how he is going to perform there. But he is full of talent and a capable bowler.”
Bowling is an aspect of the game intrinsically linked with Pakistan, a fact evidenced by Afridi’s origins as a specialist spinner before his big-hitting attributes were discovered almost by accident.
Quicks Fazal Mahmood, Imran Khan, Wasim Akram, Waqar Younis, Shoaib Akhtar and Abdul Qadir plus Saqlain Mushtaq, Mushtaq Ahmed and Iqbal Qasim in the spin department; these men represent not just Pakistan greats but some of the finest bowlers of all time.
However, in recent years the discipline has been hit hard, with Mohammad Aamer’s ban for spot-fixing while the country’s leading strike weapon in Test and one-day cricket, Saeed Ajmal, has been dogged by problems of the legitimacy of his action and has played just three matches of international cricket this year.
“I think this is not an issue just with the Pakistani team, there is other issues with other teams as well,” added Afridi. “But I think if someone starts his cricket career then the ICC should take a decision at that time.
“If someone played, like Saeed Ajmal, he played like six or seven years and become our number one bowler and then he was called.
“So I think if anything is wrong, take a decision at the start of his career.”
For someone who has done so much for one-day cricket, both for Pakistan and overseas, it’s a shame Afridi could never translate that to the purest and longest form of the game. His Test statistics barely register with just 27 matches played.
Asked if he regretted not having more success in Test cricket, his response is typically Afridi: “I think Test cricket, they gave me a chance very late, after I had played 55 or 60 ODIs and when I started I performed really well but they didn’t have me as a consistent player. Sometimes they pick me, sometimes they drop me and after that I was very bored.
“Five days in the ground, that was boring for me so I said, ‘no man, that’s it’. Every day is a beautiful day.”
With that Afridi produced a big smile and wandered back to the pool at his hotel. As the St Lucia sun glistened on the water, you could understand his point.
