http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Geoffrey-Boycott-c58776 – Cricket News Update
Geoffrey Boycott, the former http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Shahid-c89347 Afridi’s approach as a batsman and expressed that the former Pakistan captain is no more than a tail-ender now.
Afridi, who is known as ‘Boom Boom’ in the cricketing world, burst into the scene of international cricket in 1996, scoring the fastest hundred in the history of One Day International (ODI) cricket in only his second match (102 off
40 balls with the help of 11 sixes and 6 boundaries).
The 32-year-old cricketer has so far represented Pakistan in 27 Tests, 349 ODIs and 56 T20 Internationals, having 11 hundreds and 45 fifties under his belt, with almost 10 thousand runs at the game’s ultimate stage.
On top of that, Afridi has more than 450 international wickets, making him one of the leading all-rounders of the modern era.
The cricketer from Karachi is one of those cricketers who changed the face of the game, bringing in the concept of a pinch-hitter.
However, his batting abilities have declined over the years, with Afridi playing as a specialist bowler in the team now. In the current year so far, Afridi has scored just 182 runs in 16 ODIs with an average of 15.16 runs per innings.
While talking to ESPNcricinfo, Boycott, who was a huge fan of Afridi’s batting in past, feels that the former http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Pakistan-c755 skipper’s batting has deteriorated immensely.
“His batting is so bad now, it's embarrassing. He can't think, he can't judge the length, and he's just a swiper of the ball. It's appalling to watch him bat. He bats like a tail-ender. It must be frustrating as h**l, exasperating,
annoying, to all his supporters, his friends, his captain,” he expressed.
However, Boycott still thinks that Afridi is a world-class bowler who can deliver the goods with the bat as well but just needs some mental conditioning.
“Whatever his faults, he still has some talent as a bowler. And I still love him. But it is totally exasperating and somebody needs to get hold of him,” the former cricketer added. “Whether it's too late, I don't know. But he's wasted
an enormous talent at batting.”
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