Bowling All-Rounder Conception Is Misleading Afridi Fans

[BoomBoomCricket]

We keep hearing the same old excuse from Afridi fanatics-"Afridi is a bowling all-rounder so if he bowls well he has done his job." Firstly at the moment he is a bowling all-rounder to justify his place and contribution in the starting line up, but this has not always been the case and will not always be the case for that matter. Afridi's bowling form is temporary. He can discover a golden run like he did in the recently concluded 2011 ICC CWC where he bagged 21 scalps but at other times he can be rather average and mediocre by averaging in the high 40s and barely making any impact with the ball in his hand. When this happens he simply needs to start delivering & performing with the bat in order to overcome the lack of performance with the ball. In 2010 if he didn't score those 2 centuries in the Asia Cup & a 49 against South Africa I am sure many people would have been raising question marks of whether he even deserves a place in the starting line up because he was not making any impact with the ball & was more or less affecting the team composition.

Afridi made himself into a superstar figure due to his attractive entertaining batting style. He has the popularity and hype surrounding his presence due to his knocks he has played with the bat. People who don't watch much cricket but know Afridi as a player, the first thing which comes to their minds is his aggressive free scoring careless batting and not his leg break bowling!

Afridi has more talent with the bat than he does with the ball. He is an exceptionally gifted cricketer but the most infuriating aspect is the lack of care & hard work he puts into his batting. Lacks the mindset, control, organisation, preparation, planning, adaptability otherwise he would have become invincible and maybe even like the great Viv Richards. Keeping this is mind arguably people should be much more stricter towards his batting approach.

Afridi came into the side as a bowling-all rounder. His batting soon took over & even his bowling was regarded as second fiddle. He was then regularly used as an attacking opener who was a part time spinner when his batting developed whereas his bowling lost its spark. When his batting faded but his bowling picked up his bowling took centre stage & batting was a bonus. Now when his batting has completely gone but the bowling is still there he considers himself as a bowler alone. He retired from Test Cricket in July 2010 because his batting specifically was not good enough for Test Cricket. It was the batting which influenced his decision. Therefore overall even he does not know where his priorities lie & the pattern continuously changes. If we use the whole "bowler first" analogy to justify his whole career span it would not work & he would have been dropped ages ago. His batting has appreciably supported his inclusion in the team throughout his career & the "bowler first" excuse only tends to work when he has really discovered the golden run of form with the ball & not on a regular basis in the past or in the future for that matter.

If you are batting in key positions & are captain of the side you need to bat with some perspective, responsibility and game awareness. You need to show you care & at the very least TRY to read the requirements of the situation & make a contribution to set the example straight from a team perspective. If he is not going to take his batting & captaincy seriously he should be batting at 9-11. You really wonder what he says in the dressing room regarding batting if he himself is guilty of such an ill mannered brain farted approach?

[Riff]

I really think Tanvir and Wahab should be batting ahead of him. This is not even funny no more.

[pakistanigoneaussie]

People from across the cricketing world have been saying this for 10 Years and unfortunately I think they will continue to say this till he retires. I don't see him change it , he can't control his urges, I really think his 09 t20 wc performace was really flukey as he has completely left that self control

[zaid65]

Originally Posted by pakigoneaussie People from across the cricketing world have been saying this for 10 Years and unfortunately I think they will continue to say this till he retires. I don't see him change it , he can't control his urges, I really think his 09 t20 wc performace was really flukey as he has completely left that self control

Not only his 2009 T20 performance but his once in a while performances are fluke, what we see most of the time is his real class.

[zaid65]

Afridi made himself into a superstar figure due to his attractive entertaining batting style. He has the popularity and hype surrounding his presence due to his knocks he has played with the bat.

I have been saying this point for long time, his whole reputation as Boom Boom is with the bat not with the ball, how many fans have Afridi's poster with ball in his hand?

[pakistanigoneaussie]

True but he even had Ian chappel thinking he had matured after 09

[BoomBoomCricket]

Originally Posted by pakigoneaussie True but he even had Ian chappel thinking he had matured after 09

There were many of us that actually got the impression he had successfully matured with his batting approach in 2009. He smashed 3 T20 50s in a row & also played a knock of 17* from 25 deliveries when he was standing in captain against the West Indies in a group fixture of the 2009 Champions Trophy tournament which was held in South Africa in September that year. However, we have been badly let down since and truly overestimated his capabilities. He has returned to the usual childish brainless approach to batting unfortunately.

[pakistanigoneaussie]

True it's pretty sad, I think People like Andrew miller
are right when they say afridi is now a taliender who might tonk it , the way he's going he might end up averaging under 20 , I still have some hope he will prove me wrong

[Amjid Javed]

He should bat number 11 these days, cant be depended on to get many runs with the bat!

[hasanmehmoodkhan]

OP he came into the team as a leg spinner he wasn't even an allrounder when he came in , one day imran saw him smash every ball for six in the nets and he asked him to open

[Shoaib356]

he becoming disgrace to batsman he once was

[BoomBoomCricket]

Originally Posted by hasanmehmoodkhan OP he came into the team as a leg spinner he wasn't even an allrounder when he came in , one day imran saw him smash every ball for six in the nets and he asked him to open

Imran who?

Imran Khan was not around when Shahid Afridi made his debut!

Imran left cricket after the 1992 WC!

[zarak]

Originally Posted by BoomBoomCricket There were many of us that actually got the impression he had successfully matured with his batting approach in 2009. He smashed 3 T20 50s in a row & also played a knock of 17* from 25 deliveries when he was standing in captain against the West Indies in a group fixture of the 2009 Champions Trophy tournament which was held in South Africa in September that year. However, we have been badly let down since and truly overestimated his capabilities. He has returned to the usual childish brainless approach to batting unfortunately.

its a shame though because he has some of the best shots..and can make batting look very easy when on song

[Hando]

He no more deserves the tag bowling all rounder anymore, even Tanvir and Wahab can match what Afridi does, Afridi really is the weakest link in the team now, if he wasn't there we could have played an extra proper batsman push hammad lower down the order and batting becomes much better

[1137moiz]

Afridi's main problem is he rarely maintains consistency in any facet of the game for long. In fact the same problem has plagued most of our allrounders, but with Afridi it's more not using his head than actual poor form, which has been relatively rare. Even this WC he was generally throwing his wicket away rather than struggling for form.

2004-2005: This was the time when Afridi was firing both with bat and ball.

2006: Afridi flopped with the bat.

2007-2008: More a bowling allrounder role but not infrequent contributions with the bat.

2009: Excelled both with bat and ball.

2010: Batted relatively well and bowled relatively poorly.

2011: Bowling well, batting poorly.

[Gotham Cronie]

If he is not going to take his batting & captaincy seriously he should be batting at 9-11.

He should be batting at #8. Not higher. Not lower.

Maybe if we need a pinch hitter, we send him up but otherwise, he can stay at #8. Again, not higher. Not lower.

[Kaka4pope]

There is no doubting he has the ability to bat better than he does, he's got a pretty good touch, he just chooses not to, which is a shame...

[1137moiz]

Afridi's batting average from 2010 and the 2011 WC was 35. Excellent fare for a guy who bats at No 7 or 8.

His bowling slipped at the same time but he pulled up his socks at the WC, even though he flopped with the bat there.

There is no way Afridi is remotely the weakest link in our side like some posters are suggesting. Though his good results between 2009 and 2011 suggest he can do much better if he puts his mind to it, InshaAllah.

[Energy]

Lots of Afridi threads on here. Lots of expectations from the man, but at the end of the day, he is also a human and is bound to make mistakes. Only slight downside, he's made 'em more often than not.

Batting form - dodgy (no comments!)
Bowling form - reliable (consistency displayed over the latter part of his years)
Catching form - good (always been)
Ground fielding - decent (though you can sense the ageing)
Captain - fairly attack minded (big advantage having learnt the skill over time)

Problem - EXPECTATION!

Look at Afridi like every other player, and he would well go down as a 'more-than-useful-cricketer' who once played for Pakistan.

[farz88]

Originally Posted by 1137moiz Afridi's batting average from 2010 and the 2011 WC was 35. Excellent fare for a guy who bats at No 7 or 8. His bowling slipped at the same time but he pulled up his socks at the WC, even though he flopped with the bat there. There is no way Afridi is remotely the weakest link in our side like some posters are suggesting. Though his good results between 2009 and 2011 suggest he can do much better if he puts his mind to it, InshaAllah.

That average is only boosted by the 2 100s he got in Asia cup. If it wasnt for that his avg would be pretty terrible. But he has only regressed since then. He cannot try trick people into thinking he is just there for bowling.

[Theo_14]

Originally Posted by zaid65 I have been saying this point for long time, his whole reputation as Boom Boom is with the bat not with the ball, how many fans have Afridi's poster with ball in his hand?

A very good point - something I wanted to make a few weeks ago but it dissapeared from my mind as soon as I was going to post.

There's no doubt that Afridi can bat, we've all seen what he has produced in the past in all three formats.

Infact we even saw a different approach during the T20 in 2009 where he showed maturity and his decision making were much better when he was about to go for a shot - infact I still remember his mature knock v South Africa in semi finals I believe.

It's clear that Afridi is out of form and is struggling - he's simply given away his wicket far cheaply and should seriously consider coming out late in the order.

It's funny how labels himself as a bowler first... Yet he decided to come out before Razzaq, who was considered as a specialist batsman - just doesn't make any sense.

[JibranAnsari]

2012 world cup might prove to be his last one if he keeps failing with the bat because he can not continue to perform consistently well with the ball. Hope he finds some form and dare i say some brains.