Pakistan Cricket – http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Shahid-Afridi-c2482 back in the saddle – Opinion
Pakistan Cricket just never seems to stay away from making headlines, either be it their astounding achievements in sport of the gentlemen or the involvement of their top players in spot-fixing.
Pakistan made headlines in cricket yet again after the spot-fixing fiasco when the flamboyant captain of the one-day squad Shahid Afridi ended up having a bitter dispute with the team management over the selection of playing eleven during http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Pakistan-c755’s tour
of http://www.senore.com/Cricket/West-Indies-c760 earlier this year.
The escapade led to an intervention by the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB), which ultimately resulted in the ouster of the outspoken Afridi.
The hard-hitting batsman was replaced by http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Misbah-ul-Haq-c1972, who was already leading Pakistan’s Test team.
This did not go down well with Afridi and consequently the 31-year-old all-rounder chose to retire from international cricket and pledged not to play for his country for as long as http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Ijaz-Butt-c64128 was calling the shots in the PCB.
However, the controversial Butt is gone now as his three-year stint was not renewed by the pattern-in-chief of Pakistan cricket, Asif Ali Zardari.
Zaka http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Ashraf-c46397 is the new man running the PCB and just after his appointment, Afridi decided to abrogate his retirement and made himself available for national duty.
Immediately it was not clear if Afridi would have any role to play in the national team, however, after his meeting with the newly appointed chairman he was named in Pakistan One Day International (ODI) and T20 squad for the upcoming series against http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Sri-Lanka-c758
in the http://www.senore.com/Cricket/United-Arab-Emirates-c3033 (UAE).
Now that the PCB has shown its flexibility regarding the matter of Afridi, time has come for the all-rounder to prove his selection in the team, but this is easier said than done because before leaving the team he was captaining the squad and now he would
have to play under a new skipper.
Although Afridi has not expressed any problems in playing under Misbah, the fact remains that in Pakistan cricket there are numerous examples of infighting over captaincy. PCB must assure that Afridi and Misbah don’t end up on opposite ends while trying
to hold on to the leadership belt.
For Afridi it is imperative that he comprehends the fact that he will no longer be calling the shots in the team while Misbah should also keep in mind that he is still the captain of the limited overs squad only because of his excellent record over the past
few months which has made it extremely difficult for the high-ups in the cricket board to sideline him.
Pakistan seem to be on a winning path and Afridi needs to contribute to the fullest in this quest and support Misbah as Pakistan try to regain their lost glory in a support which has brought great joy and pride to the country.
However, keeping the past in sight, there is a possibility that Afridi might be given back his captaincy for future tournaments as there is no doubt that he had lead the ODI squad tremendously during his stint and should be given a chance to enhance the
capacity of his team due to his daring captaincy which is vital in the shorter versions of the game.
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