Afridis captaincy of luck and judgement!

[Kray_jackson7]

Shahid Afridi was impressive in his stint as captain


Pakistan escaped their tussle with the West Indies with points on the board and a sense of relief. Had the West Indian captain asked Pakistan to bat first we may have been considering a nightmare scenario and a disastrous captaincy debut for Shahid Afridi. This match was something of a lottery and the team batting second would hold a major advantage.
As it turned out West Indies aptly demonstrated why their cricket requires resuscitation. A weak team requires all the help it can get, and that help ended the moment West Indies won the toss. Pakistan should also pay close attention to the pitiful state of West Indian cricket. A few wrong calls by cricket adminstators and Pakistan could be hurtling to join Bangaldesh, West Indies, and Zimbabwe in the bottom echelon of the international game.

Good fortune apart, Pakistan can take some heart from this encounter. The bowlers were outstanding, bowling with excellent control to extract maximum bounce and movement from an unsusally helpful track. Umar Gul and Mohammad Aamer are becoming formidable, while Rana Naved looks in better shape and form than prior to his ICL flirtation.

But two other performances fascinated me more. First, Shahid Afridi has been an eager captain short of opportunities. A previous outing leading the 'A' team suggested that captaincy was beyond him. Nonetheless, Afridi has focused his energy and his mind to become a responsible cricketer. Individual success, as ever with Afridi, has settled him, and his captaincy was refreshing for his encouragement of his young charges and his aggressive approach as Pakistan sensed a rout. This began as an easy day at the office but Afridi excelled when the going was easy and knuckled down when the tough needed to get going.

It was, however, Umar Akmal who added most to his reputation. A stunning entry on familiar tracks has been seen before. Many Pakistani batsmen have thundered into town only to be shot down by the first serious challenge. Umar came through a tricky situation on an unhelpful track, which is a sign that he may have the right mentality to blossom. Clearly, he has a long way to go but all Pakistan fans will be excited to see how he performs against stronger opposition.

Pakistan are now well placed in the group, one good win away from a semi final. India and Australia are both strong but beatable. Once more, Pakistan's bowling offers hope that the team can be competitive while the batting remains a worry, although Younis Khan will be back to strengthen the top order.

Now for the big one.

source: http://blogs.cricinfo.com/pakspin/ar...f_luck_and.php

what say you now doubters of his captaincy? waqar_ahmed and co.??

[Wazeeri]

You could tell it was Afridi's first match

Things I liked.

Aggressive attitude,
Brought on Rana and Gul to kill the windies off (something I haven't seen Inzi/Malik doing or even Younis)

Things I disliked
7 overs in a row for Aamer, not a good idea keeping in mind the kids stress fractures
He literally shut his eyes to attempt a six when it was not needed.

[Juggernaut]

Originally Posted by Wazeeri You could tell it was Afridi's first match Things I liked. Aggressive attitude, Brought on Rana and Gul to kill the windies off (something I haven't seen Inzi/Malik doing or even Younis) Things I disliked 7 overs in a row for Aamer, not a good idea keeping in mind the kids stress fractures He literally shut his eyes to attempt a six when it was not needed.

I thought Afridi did alright.

Perhaps he didn't need to bowl as much as he did.

But one thing that I was really dissapointed with was that he blindly swung at more than a few deliveries early on in his innings when the situation called for calmness and use of the brain.

He did settle down later however. Also despite all his hitting power Afridi is better at picking up the singles then all of Misbah, Malik, Moyo, Kami. That was good stuff.

[Savak]

Originally Posted by Wazeeri You could tell it was Afridi's first match Things I liked. Aggressive attitude, Brought on Rana and Gul to kill the windies off (something I haven't seen Inzi/Malik doing or even Younis) Things I disliked 7 overs in a row for Aamer, not a good idea keeping in mind the kids stress fractures He literally shut his eyes to attempt a six when it was not needed.

Apparently some posters are having a go at Afridi for not bowling the pacers throughout the innings on the trot. I dont think Aamir bowled 7 overs on the trot, i think it was two spells of 4 overs each.

[Savak]

Originally Posted by Juggernaut I thought Afridi did alright. Perhaps he didn't need to bowl as much as he did. But one thing that I was really dissapointed with was that he blindly swung at more than a few deliveries early on in his innings when the situation called for calmness and use of the brain. He did settle down later however. Also despite all his hitting power Afridi is better at picking up the singles then all of Misbah, Malik, Moyo, Kami. That was good stuff.

Afridi swung wildly early on thanks to the pressure created by Misbah who got bogged down and kept on blocking and blocking. The runs were just not coming and the ball was doing a bit. But Umar Akmal then hit a few boundries and that really took the pressure of Afridi who then buckled down.

[siccric]

his batting was really the only thing I had a problem with. He was lucky he didn't edge one, though it would be interesting to see whether he would also be attacked like the other senior statesmen

[Juggernaut]

Originally Posted by siccric his batting was really the only thing I had a problem with. He was lucky he didn't edge one, though it would be interesting to see whether he would also be attacked like the other senior statesmen

Very Lucky.

The first ball he swung at, on another day he would have been out.

[Ghoshtbuster]

Savak is basically right. Aamer was told to bowl 4 overs, had a break, then returned to bowl 3. Flawless captaincy.

Afridi. Undefeated.

[Salman]

When he came on to bat yesterday, for the first time ever, he looked like worried man!

It will be interesting to see if he can keep his cool when his bowlers and fielders are getting taken to the cleaners....

[Wazeeri]

Originally Posted by Savak dont think Aamir bowled 7 overs on the trot, i think it was two spells of 4 overs each.

Stand corrected.

[undisputed]

afridi is a hell of a player mad respect.

[Kray_jackson7]

Aamir was used in 4 over bursts. all the pacers were. i liked it because they could rest for a while then come steaming back in.
Also his batting started nervous but it always does. even in the last T20 vs sri lanka. first innings as captain thats why. inshallah he will destroy every team from now.

[najam2007]

I think he did it alright till he brought himself on attack....and then he continued bowling eventhough batsmen were very comfortable playing him, he should have changed himself kept pressure with pace attack. When he came out for batting he looked worried. And underpressure my rating 85%

[umarf76]

Originally Posted by siccric his batting was really the only thing I had a problem with. He was lucky he didn't edge one, though it would be interesting to see whether he would also be attacked like the other senior statesmen

Dude he is playing for 13 years now. You should have figured out now that you cannot put logic to Afridi's batting. You just have to accept the way he bats. He bats like this everytime. It isnt any different.

[asadee]

I liked the way he praised Umar Akmal in the presentation ceremony "I like brave hearted people"..that's a good message to the other players in the team.

[Kray_jackson7]

He had a nervous start in batting but got over it quickly and trusted akmal with the strike. He played a great match and so did akmal.

[mindless slogging]

Originally Posted by Ghoshtbuster Savak is basically right. Aamer was told to bowl 4 overs, had a break, then returned to bowl 3. Flawless captaincy. Afridi. Undefeated.

It wasn't flawless but considering it was his first game as captain of the ODI side, he did quite well. As expected there were things he did well and things he could have done better.

[Kray_jackson7]

Originally Posted by mindless slogging It wasn't flawless but considering it was his first game as captain of the ODI side, he did quite well. As expected there were things he did well and things he could have done better.

such as?

[Savak]

Its funny how people are blasting Afridi after his first game especially when these same people when Malik was captain were constantly saying "Give Malik some time in the job", "He needs some time to gel the team together and improve". And a failed attempt to crucify Afridi has been made based on his first game in charge.

Sorry, but any criticism of Afridi is only valid when

1) Afridi has led the team for a year and a half atleast

2) Afridi has been playing politics with the senior players in the team, shows an ambigious stance in the media and bitches behind the backs of the senior players to the selectors, pcb officials

3) Afridi has been full heartedly supporting his closest buddies in the team while demanding the exclusion of those he feels threatened by or does not want in the team

4) Afridi has been showing the same boring, lethargic, clueless, reactive, phattu captaincy day in day out, series after series

5) If Afridi deliberately does not show confidence in certain players, deliberately does not use them in their correct batting positions and deliberately makes people bat in situations where they can do very little for both themselves and their team

6) If Afridi in dead rubber games bowls his full quota of overs, gives the likes of Sohail Khan, Aamir only one over in a game but refuses to turn his arm over against the big teams like India/Sri lanka/Australia e.t.c.

Bottomline any comparison with Malik is useless and any criticism of Afridi at this point is unjustified given his captaincy inexperience. Heck forget about Afridi, Younis has proven he was a much better choice than Malik and has not been afraid to make bold selection choices.

[Kray_jackson7]

Afridi has already shown his skills in the captaincy role are far superior to those of shoaib maliks.
inshallah younis will relinquish the reins to the team to the man with 2 wins in 2.

[Brilliant_Boyd]

Afridi did well. However he did take the pacers off a few overs early imo

[Kray_jackson7]

Originally Posted by Brilliant_Boyd Afridi did well. However he did take the pacers off a few overs early imo

he took off pace from one end and let it continue from the other. aamir had bowled 7 overs and rana wasnt really looking that threatening so he came on and had gul bowling from the other end. Even wasim akram said he agreed with the decision

[BD-fan]

Originally Posted by Savak Afridi swung wildly early on thanks to the pressure created by Misbah who got bogged down and kept on blocking and blocking. The runs were just not coming and the ball was doing a bit. ....

Hahaha!!! You sure know your cricket.

With 133 to chase what pressure you are talking about? What was the RRR? If I am not correct it never went over 2.4. You call that pressure? Any batsman who can't handle 2.4 RRR needs to retire from Intl cricket.

Stop making baseless rubish excuses to hide short comings.

[Kray_jackson7]

Originally Posted by BD-fan Hahaha!!! You sure know your cricket. With 133 to chase what pressure you are talking about? What was the RRR? If I am not correct it never went over 2.4. You call that pressure? Any batsman who can't handle 2.4 RRR needs to retire from Intl cricket. Stop making baseless rubish excuses to hide short comings.

actually it went to 3!!
afridi has been in over 10 and won it with ease.

what short coming ? i thought it was perfect.
people complain about him bringing spin on but i am happy that him and ajmal got to have a turn on the pitch and test it out. if they never they wont know what to expect in future games here.

afridi swung at the ball wildly because he is afridi. if he never in the innings we could no longer call him afridi and start to call him a robot like every other cricketer trying to perfect their 'technique.'