Afridi rejects criticism, wants support ahead of World Cup

[NO 1 AFRIDI FAN]

KARACHI: Pakistan Twenty20 and One-Day International (ODI) captain Shahid Afridi has asked for support ahead of the World Cup and said that criticism before the global event will discourage the young team. Following the recent Twenty20 series loss to New Zealand – the third consecutive series defeat after England and South Africa won 2-0 – former players lashed out at Afridi and questioned his leadership skills.

“I don’t want to react to the criticism,” Afridi told The Express Tribune. “All I expect is support for my team which is going through a tough phase with the World Cup not very far away.

“The former cricketers are well aware of the current crisis in the team and should avoid comments that would leave a negative impact before the tournament.”

Afridi said that times had changed and with the team facing various issues, the attack was uncalled for.

“It is not the same time as it was when Imran Khan and Javed Miandad were playing. The situation now is totally different.

“Some [ex-cricketers] just wait for a bad performance to launch an attack on the team or on certain players. It happens. The same people praise you when the team does well.”

Afridi optimistic on best squad for World Cup

The captain, however, was confident of forming the best line-up for the World Cup in which Pakistan may miss the experienced trio of Salman Butt, Mohammad Asif and Mohammad Amir. The three players will appear in the International Cricket Council (ICC) hearing on the spot-fixing case later this week.

“There is no doubt we are missing the three players but we still have good players who will form the team for the World Cup.”

Afridi, who was also criticised for team selection in the Twenty20s against New Zealand, said he tried different combinations keeping the World Cup in mind.

“Many of our World Cup probables were tested in the T20s because we want to give them maximum appearances.

“The clear picture for our World Cup line-up will come after the ODI series against New Zealand which is very important for us.”

Pakistan, following the two Test matches against New Zealand, will play a six-match ODI series that would be the team’s last assignment before the World Cup starts on February 19.

Afridi to give input

Shahid Afridi will meet the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) Chairman Ijaz Butt in Lahore today where his input on the World Cup squad will be taken into account.

According to a PCB official, Butt will discuss team selection with the captain before giving a go-ahead for the 30-man squad finalised by the selection committee.

“The PCB chairman wants input from Afridi on team selection while performance in the T20 series will also be discussed in the meeting,” said the official.

The World Cup preliminary squad is expected to be announced tomorrow, a day before the deadline which the ICC extended following a request by the PCB.

[Down2Earth]

from which angle does this team look young to him? only umar akmal and ahmed shezad are young. the others are old.

[Afridirocks]

Originally Posted by Down2Earth from which angle does this team look young to him? only umar akmal and ahmed shezad are young. the others are old.

fawad alam?? asad shafiq??? wahab riaz???? tanvir ahmad,?? abdur rehman

when i mean young, its not the age... its the international cricket experience

[insaaniyat]

Originally Posted by Afridirocks fawad alam?? asad shafiq??? wahab riaz???? tanvir ahmad,?? abdur rehman when i mean young, its not the age... its the international cricket experience

yaar did you expect Afridi to say anything otherwise? I am not worried about the team, I am worried about our brianless captain. Remove him as captain and we are good team.

[Down2Earth]

Originally Posted by Afridirocks fawad alam?? asad shafiq??? wahab riaz???? tanvir ahmad,?? abdur rehman when i mean young, its not the age... its the international cricket experience

what about hafeez, younis khan, afridi, razzaq, ajmal, gul and akhtar? and even then, fawad and umar akmal have played enough cricket to be "experienced"

[Afridirocks]

Originally Posted by insaaniyat yaar did you expect Afridi to say anything otherwise? I am not worried about the team, I am worried about our brianless captain. Remove him as captain and we are good team.

thats your opinion which is completely fine but you are so naive to think that changing a captain a tour before worldcup is suicidal and a joke, who are your options??? misbah ul haq??? who cant plai LOI, the only option left is younus khan who will never take the captaincy because i heard his interview on geo and he said he will never take the captaincy again.

decide his future and waqar after world cup which is fair enough, but imo a captain should always get 2 years before judging his performances, did inzamam started winning matches from the start??? NO. we lost to india at home , we got thrashed by the aussies, we lost the triangular series vs srilanka and zimbabwe, we lost the EB series, the point is changing captain doesnt do anything, its all about giving a consistent run, afridis captaincy era has been the toughest one with all the controversies

so imo these all things matter

[sultanator]

I still don't think he understands why those performances were terrible...and that's all down to his captaincy.

[Afridirocks]

Originally Posted by Down2Earth what about hafeez, younis khan, afridi, razzaq, ajmal, gul and akhtar? and even then, fawad and umar akmal have played enough cricket to be "experienced"

dude hafeez is just making a comeback himself, the team has experience players but they also have alot of youngsters in the team.. it takes time be patient, they have playu really good ODI cricket in their last 2 series, if you cant admit that, then i am sorry we cant have a constructive discussion

[insaaniyat]

^ you are very confident of him. You seem to think we have no option other then him. I see just the oppoiste. Anyone would be a better captain than him. I guess we can agree to disagree.

[KingKhanWC]

Totally agree with Lala here. Since being skipper we have just lost 3-2 to England and SA in ODI's. T20 has been poor but anything can happen in that format. Afridi seems to be responding to Akrams words here and is correct to say the team should be supported.

[pakistani_sher]

why do they call this team a young team?
only 2 players are young
grow up afridi
can't win

[Desi]

One of his obligatory 5 statements when a test series is going on so people don't forget about him. Expect a minimum of 4 more ADHD.

[Bullet Drive]

shehzad is young, akmal is young , fawad i young , shafiq young , wahab , gul, etcccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccc ccccccccccccccccccccccc

[*sallu*]

He needs to warrant support

[NO 1 AFRIDI FAN]

I agree with Lala as he is captain no matter how much of a rubbish captain/cricketer (in some peoples opinion) he is, him and his boys are representing our nation therefor the whole nation should be behind the team and support them because when the team walks on to the feild the will know that their people are supporting them and will support them no matter what.

[BoomBoomCricket]

Originally Posted by NO 1 AFRIDI FAN I agree with Lala as he is captain no matter how much of a rubbish captain/cricketer (in some peoples opinion) he is, him and his boys are representing our nation therefor the whole nation should be behind the team and support them because when the team walks on to the feild the will know that their people are supporting them and will support them no matter what.

Your argument is too basic

Obviously we give him full support and wish him full well when ever he takes the field

But if we are against something, criticism is needed because at the end of the day we all want to get the best out of Pakistan Cricket and like to express passion for wanting them to do well

Thats pretty much summarised it

[W63L35]

“I don’t want to react to the criticism,” Afridi told The Express Tribune. “All I expect is support for my team which is going through a tough phase with the World Cup not very far away.

Good for you Lala...... no need to stoop to same low levels.

“The former cricketers are well aware of the current crisis in the team and should avoid comments that would leave a negative impact before the tournament.”

No Lala.... some dumb arm-chair cricketer or fans or media have no clue what Aamir/Asif/Butt has put the country, team and Afridi through otherwise they would be appreciating you and Misbah for coming forward at the this time of crisis.

Afridi said that times had changed and with the team facing various issues, the attack was uncalled for. “It is not the same time as it was when Imran Khan and Javed Miandad were playing. The situation now is totally different.

Don't worry Lala, most of them were not born then.

“Some [ex-cricketers] just wait for a bad performance to launch an attack on the team or on certain players. It happens. The same people praise you when the team does well

They get paid to make stupid remarks.....what do you expect.

[hasanmehmoodkhan]

hope he gets his house in order before the world cup. if we get aamer back it will be a big morale booster fr the team

[Gollum]

The team shall have my support as always but don't expect me to give a blank cheque to nonperforming individuals!

[ItsMeK1]

HaHa .... Afridi should be the last person to say this, if I am not wrong he is the one of the first one to blame and criticize his team mates in front of media openly. This guy is just an attention seeker.

[Qelic]

Perform first and then ask !

Utter garbage once again from Afridi.

Lets take a look at what rubbish he is muttering once again.

Regarding cricket is different now. As far as I am concerned the rules are still the same, or are there different rules when Pakistan are playing.

Support for the team - the support is there mate. Now get your team performing and more importantly sort your own form out.

Tough phase - oh come on man. You make yourself out to be some sort of superhero and world beater yet a few players are missing and you are calling this a tough phase. Imran Khan won the World Cup with a squad missing Saeed Anwar and Waqar, now lets see what you can do.

Different combinations - about time you started picking players on merit and forgot about your baggage handler and teaboy Fawad Alam.

[insaaniyat]

Originally Posted by NO 1 AFRIDI FAN I agree with Lala as he is captain no matter how much of a rubbish captain/cricketer (in some peoples opinion) he is, him and his boys are representing our nation therefor the whole nation should be behind the team and support them because when the team walks on to the feild the will know that their people are supporting them and will support them no matter what.

Are you behind Zardari? By that logic we should all support corrupt Zardari too?

[insaaniyat]

Originally Posted by gollumbird The team shall have my support as always but don't expect me to give a blank cheque to nonperforming individuals!

agreed.