Did Shahid Afridi retire too early from T20Is?

[Abdullah719]

Is it just me or have his performances improved since his retirement

Did really well in the NatWest T20 Blast with a couple of four wicket hauls and hit a hundred in a knockout match.

Picked up 4/12 in his first appearance in BPL.

Picked up a Man of the Match award in the Qualifier today for Dhaka, leading them to the final with a quick-fire 30 and 3/16.

Yeah we have some good upcoming T20 players but still, you can never have too many stars.

What's the verdict? Could he still have played a part in T20Is if he was in the team?

The main downside is that he always had a lot of baggage. But since he gave up captaincy for PZ, he honestly seems to be relaxed, more at ease and looks to be just enjoying the game whenever he plays T20s.

 

[ezy9]

Come on please, move on. Afridi might see this thread and may consider unretiring.

 

[Abdullah719]

Come on please, move on. Afridi might see this thread and may consider unretiring.

I don't want him to unretire. Please don't do it Lala.

Just a thread for discussion since we don't have much going on in Pakistan cricket these days.

 

[pakistani pride]

His performances for PAK in INT games show he retired way too late even from T20s.

Look how well our T20 team us doing since he left.
Enough said.

 

[MMHS]

Afridi (& YK), paid the price for the recent culture established in PAK team - that's life starts after 40. People/poster got so upset/desperate that everyone wanted old blood; otherwise Afridi in T20 & YK in Test could have played for couple more years, particularly Afridi. He is still a fantastic T20 player and a match winner in Asian condition.

However, if he wasn't forced out, probably he would have made Sarfu's life difficult with his (& his protegees) antics. Besides, with Afridi in XI, Shadab & Imad probably won't have debuted even now - therefore Lala retiring 2/3 years earlier isn't that bad, collateral damage would have been too much.

 

[Professor]

Yes because BPL and International cricket are the same thing.

 

[SensiblePakFan]

He was forced into retirement, he wasnt doing anything wrong with his economical bowling

 

[MMHS]

Yes because BPL and International cricket are the same thing.

That's not the point - BPL actually can be better than some International matches. Do you think, teams that the last 6 T20 PAK played against (World XI & SRL), either of the sides will make the eliminator of BPL? Today Afridi was MoM in a game among top 2 sides of BPL, after 12 rounds.

Few months back, he hit a 40 some balls 100 in NatWest blast as well, which indicates his capability - add to that his bowling, he'll walk into current PAK team, even now.

 

[Bleedgreen4ever]

The standard of BPL can be judged by the fact that Sami was the highest wicket taker in the first version which is still a record

 

[maxamax]

He wasnt even crossing the ropes on most of his shots. Was bowling defensively. He is not Sachin who needed to carry on despite horrible form to update record books. There was no need to even if he takes 10fer in such Antarctican Premier League.

 

[maxamax]

That's not the point - BPL actually can be better than some International matches. Do you think, teams that the last 6 T20 PAK played against (World XI & SRL), either of the sides will make the eliminator of BPL? Today Afridi was MoM in a game among top 2 sides of BPL, after 12 rounds.

Few months back, he hit a 40 some balls 100 in NatWest blast as well, which indicates his capability - add to that his bowling, he'll walk into current PAK team, even now.

Thats because world XI wasnt actual world XI.

 

[moghul]

No Misbah retired too early, he still had 5 years of cricket left.

 

[Indiafan]

T20 cricket was invented too late for him

 

[Arham_PakFan]

No,he retired too late.

 

[MMHS]

Thats because world XI wasnt actual world XI.

Doesn't matter, because those were T20I. Point still stands that not all T20I are of such high standard that Afridi can't perform. My point wasn't to glorify BPL.

DD & CV are the best 2 BPL teams with at least 2/3rd of their starters are regular Internationals. In that match he actually dominated with both bat & ball. If you look at CV's bowling chart, only Mehedi isn't International and Afridi didn't face him - don't think he faced Al-Amin either; mostly his batting was against Bravo, Hasan, Saifuddin & Malik. Similarly, 16 runs in 4 overs is commanding in T20, add to that he had a maiden, which indicates his control, because in T20 at any level you have all 9 men on line - inner or outer, it's near impossible to get a maiden in middle overs. And 2 of his 3 wickets are Tamim & Bravo = again 2 top class proven International.

Also, he is playing for the same team with Shakib, someone No. 1 all-rounder for 3 formats for best part of a decade now - Shakib came to bat earlier, bowled full quota, still Afridi won MoM by some margin. This tells the ability of the man - weather he should have been retained in PAK team or not, that's different issue.

 

[MMHS]

The standard of BPL can be judged by the fact that Sami was the highest wicket taker in the first version which is still a record

You can't judge the quality of a league with individual stats - last 2 years PSL's highest scorer was Umar & Kamran Akmal. And, the same Sami, when he was BPL's highest wicket taker (I didn't check data, trusting you), he was PAK international. Now 40 years old Sami is among top pacers in last 2 PSL - 24 wickets at 12/6 stats in 16 matches. And, the top 2 bowlers in PSL last year were Sohail & Wahab.

 

[CricketAnalyst]

Yes because BPL and International cricket are the same thing.

4 out of the 7 BPL sides would obliterate the Srilankan side Pakistan was playing against.

Dhaka Dynamites would murder most of the international sides in the world, Rangpur Riders and Comilla Victorians are pretty strong as well.

Ultimately franchise T20 is of an extremely high standard and competitiveness. Doing well there is no joke.

 

[CricketAnalyst]

The standard of BPL can be judged by the fact that Sami was the highest wicket taker in the first version which is still a record

Sami played for Pakistan as recently as the last World T20, and Pakistan has the worlds's best bowling unit. Sami doing well in a tourney is hardly proof of low standards. He is a very experienced bowler with great control who still bowls 145+.

Also, seriously,

A team containing: Sunil Narine, Evin Lewis, Keiron Pollard, Shahid Afridi, Joe Denly (who ought to be playing for England), Shakib-Al-Hasan and a bunch of other Bangaldeshis who have played international cricket is much much stronger than most national sides.

 

[MenInG]

Afridi was a class act but think his appetite for international cricket seemed to die away.

 

[GoUgandaCranes]

Sami played for Pakistan as recently as the last World T20, and Pakistan has the worlds's best bowling unit. Sami doing well in a tourney is hardly proof of low standards. He is a very experienced bowler with great control who still bowls 145+.

Also, seriously,

A team containing: Sunil Narine, Evin Lewis, Keiron Pollard, Shahid Afridi, Joe Denly (who ought to be playing for England), Shakib-Al-Hasan and a bunch of other Bangaldeshis who have played international cricket is much much stronger than most national sides.

The BPL benefits by 5 international players as most of them are international stars. Add to that a couple of good players from Bangladesh but the remaining 3 to 4 spots are bang on average and below average at their ultimate best.

So no, BPL teams are still a work in progress. Maybe in about 4 to 5 years the local players would be amazing but as of now, the teams are just lesser than the sum of their parts.

 

[King-Misbah]

That's not the point - BPL actually can be better than some International matches. Do you think, teams that the last 6 T20 PAK played against (World XI & SRL), either of the sides will make the eliminator of BPL? Today Afridi was MoM in a game among top 2 sides of BPL, after 12 rounds.

Few months back, he hit a 40 some balls 100 in NatWest blast as well, which indicates his capability - add to that his bowling, he'll walk into current PAK team, even now.

Shadab Khan is a much better clutch player!

 

[Bleedgreen4ever]

You can't judge the quality of a league with individual stats - last 2 years PSL's highest scorer was Umar & Kamran Akmal. And, the same Sami, when he was BPL's highest wicket taker (I didn't check data, trusting you), he was PAK international. Now 40 years old Sami is among top pacers in last 2 PSL - 24 wickets at 12/6 stats in 16 matches. And, the top 2 bowlers in PSL last year were Sohail & Wahab.

The fact that your league is EXTREMELY dependant on Pakistani players for everything speaks volumes about it's quality

Unlike BPL that had to be shelved later on after Pakistani players were banned by PCB PSL would never have an issue if BCB bans their cricketers from participating.

Plus payment issues and commentary makes BPL among the worst leagues in the world.

I am pretty sure you would be the first one to criticize this league if it was Pakistani..

 

[King-Misbah]

The fact that your league is EXTREMELY dependant on Pakistani players for everything speaks volumes about it's quality

Unlike BPL that had to be shelved later on after Pakistani players were banned by PCB PSL would never have an issue if BCB bans their cricketers from participating.

Plus payment issues and commentary makes BPL among the worst leagues in the world.

I am pretty sure you would be the first one to criticize this league if it was Pakistani..

Let's not look down on BPL; I am sure it will improve with time.

 

[TeymurBlake]

To me he retired well to late. There have been times where he comes back in to the side and performs in 1 match and then disappears. His inconsistency kind of destroyed his legacy.

 

[MMHS]

The fact that your league is EXTREMELY dependant on Pakistani players for everything speaks volumes about it's quality

Unlike BPL that had to be shelved later on after Pakistani players were banned by PCB PSL would never have an issue if BCB bans their cricketers from participating.

Plus payment issues and commentary makes BPL among the worst leagues in the world.

I am pretty sure you would be the first one to criticize this league if it was Pakistani..

I wonder after the following post (Post no 222), why you stopped posting in that BPL thread

http://www.pakpassion.net/ppforum/s...remier-League-2017-18-Discussion-Thread/page3

 

[MMHS]

Shadab Khan is a much better clutch player!

On potential wise may be, but at present Afridi is far more clutch player. I think, Shadab was in Khulna team and they didn't play him in a single match. He was there I believe, because he left NT20 after 4 or 5 matches. Afridi is starting for DD, which is by far the better squad on papers.

 

[Abdullah719]

On potential wise may be, but at present Afridi is far more clutch player. I think, Shadab was in Khulna team and they didn't play him in a single match. He was there I believe, because he left NT20 after 4 or 5 matches. Afridi is starting for DD, which is by far the better squad on papers.

As far as I'm aware, Shadab pulled out of BPL completely.

 

[shaz619]

He's very mercurial but is arguably the greatest T20 cricketer in history, I've watched him during the Natwest Blast which is full of quality and he had a great tournament recently. [MENTION=79064]MMHS[/MENTION] He could potentially walk into the team now, however he had been someone who has been playing international cricket for Pakistan a long time, you get burned out and mentally he may not be up for it or handle the weight of expectations. In the end I don't mind the move because we need to move on from Afridi and look to the future.

 

[MMHS]

As far as I'm aware, Shadab pulled out of BPL completely.

Don't know, he is still listed in their squad. But may be that's the case - he should definitely be among 5 foreigners in that starting XI, if fit.

 

[MMHS]

He's very mercurial but is arguably the greatest T20 cricketer in history, I've watched him during the Natwest Blast which is full of quality and he had a great tournament recently. [MENTION=79064]MMHS[/MENTION] He could potentially walk into the team now, however he had been someone who has been playing international cricket for Pakistan a long time, you get burned out and mentally he may not be up for it or handle the weight of expectations. In the end I don't mind the move because we need to move on from Afridi and look to the future.

One has to move on - guy is playing for 20 years for PAK!!!! Besides, team should be built for future milestones, which is next T20 WC, 2020 in AUS. Age (he'll be officially 38 only, but you know) and his strength (skills), doesn't match the venue - it's better that he has retired. There are many players who retired when they could have played few more years - Lillee, Chappell, Hadlee, Warne, Murali, Sanga .....

 

[Justcrazy]

Afridi is a big underachiever

 

[PakSarZameen]

The burden of captaincy started affecting his performances in T20s. He could have played for another 2-3 years had he not accepted captaincy back in 2014.

Only got himself to blame though

 

[QalandarFan]

Afridi (& YK), paid the price for the recent culture established in PAK team - that's life starts after 40. People/poster got so upset/desperate that everyone wanted old blood; otherwise Afridi in T20 & YK in Test could have played for couple more years, particularly Afridi. He is still a fantastic T20 player and a match winner in Asian condition.

However, if he wasn't forced out, probably he would have made Sarfu's life difficult with his (& his protegees) antics. Besides, with Afridi in XI, Shadab & Imad probably won't have debuted even now - therefore Lala retiring 2/3 years earlier isn't that bad, collateral damage would have been too much.

This pretty much sums it up.

 

[ExplicitAI]

I wouldn't mind him doing a Jayasuriya and playing an odd T20 again for Pak but he retired at a good time with regards to his age. He's one of the best T20 players in history and is the type of player every team craves for. Such a shame that he was too late for the new ODI game where you need players like him because back in the day with 1 white ball, batsmen were expected to preserve their wickets whereas now you need more lower order hitters and a player like Afridi is gold dust. He's just short of 100 T20 wickets but then again it would anger most people if he came out of retirement to just hunt for more wickets for a milestone.

 

[hadi123]

No, his performance was rubbish towards the end of his career.

 

[Savak]

All things have to come to an end eventually.

 

[Hasan123]

We had to move on in the end. Maybe he could have got a farewell game in Pakistan though.

 

[babajee]

We had to move on in the end. Maybe he could have got a farewell game in Pakistan though.

Quite sure he was offered one but refused

Typical Afridi

 

[Hasan123]

Quite sure he was offered one but refused

Typical Afridi

That's disappointing if true. It would have been nice for him to have 1 final game in Pakistan.

 

[Zaz]

How is a 40 yr old retiring from t20s and from 20 yrs of intnl cricket, retiring too soon?

 

[MenInG]

Verdict looks pretty one sided!

 

[ShahidDar08]

No he retired too late. Done more harm than benefiting the Pak team.

 

[Bilal7]

I miss seeing him play for Pakistan. Let's have one last, final unretirement please.

 

[big_gamer007]

Yea definitely needs to come back in pak side and that too as a captain..

 

[maxamax]

Doesn't matter, because those were T20I. Point still stands that not all T20I are of such high standard that Afridi can't perform. My point wasn't to glorify BPL.

DD & CV are the best 2 BPL teams with at least 2/3rd of their starters are regular Internationals. In that match he actually dominated with both bat & ball. If you look at CV's bowling chart, only Mehedi isn't International and Afridi didn't face him - don't think he faced Al-Amin either; mostly his batting was against Bravo, Hasan, Saifuddin & Malik. Similarly, 16 runs in 4 overs is commanding in T20, add to that he had a maiden, which indicates his control, because in T20 at any level you have all 9 men on line - inner or outer, it's near impossible to get a maiden in middle overs. And 2 of his 3 wickets are Tamim & Bravo = again 2 top class proven International.

Also, he is playing for the same team with Shakib, someone No. 1 all-rounder for 3 formats for best part of a decade now - Shakib came to bat earlier, bowled full quota, still Afridi won MoM by some margin. This tells the ability of the man - weather he should have been retained in PAK team or not, that's different issue.

It does, alot. He couldn't do a jack against better teams.

Please don't take leagues seriously.

 

[MenInG]

Up and Down is Shahid Afridi - we needed consistency and that is all gone now.

 

[Lefthanded]

Accidentally answered Yes, when my reaction is...

...Did Misbah retire too early too? Couldn't Imran Khan have played the next World Cup? Did we only see the beginning of Younis's career that was cut short? Have we been permanently robbed -- much too soon -- of the glove work genius of Kamran Akmal?

Playing against weak attacks in third tier T20 leagues like England's and Bangladesh's, isn't the same as destroying the best two or three IPL teams. Much less playing against England, SA, Australia and India in T20Is.

 

[Lefthanded]

Up and Down is Shahid Afridi - we needed consistency and that is all gone now.

I don't mean this in a sarcastic way at all when I ask, what was period of consistency in his near two decade career? And how long were those periods considering his record over nearly 500 white ball matches?

 

[Savak]

The point of Afridi retiring is to make way for younger players. You don't always have to retire when you have nothing at all to offer, you retire putting aside the countries best interests and Afridi wasn't going to play very long internationally anyways.

Playing in these leagues is pressure free for him, no more scrutiny, its not like he desperately needs the money.

 

[JattMaula]

Yes.

/thread

 

[Blitz]

Here are the results for matches before and after Afridi retired. Since we have played 14 after, I have taken 14 before.


Before:
14P. 4W. 1D. 9L. 29% Win Rate.

After:
14P. 12W. 2L. 86% Win Rate.

Also consider Afridi was captain for all the before matches.