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"Nearly done with cricket" : Shahid Afridi

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Saj

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Interviewed Shahid Afridi earlier today and he seemed like he was almost there regarding giving up playing cricket.

He didn't say it but to me he was hinting at PSL5 being the end of his playing days.

Interview details will be announced soon
 
Will be the end of an era. What a superstar he was, yes I wasnt a fan of situational awareness when it comes to batting but 8000+ ODI runs at a SR of 117 and close to 400 ODI wickets. If I am not wrong he is the only one in the history of ODI cricket with 350+ wickets and 8000+ runs. Also not to forget 335 wickets in T20s around the world at an economy of 6.69.

One of the biggest stars the game has scene, with people coming to stadium only to see him play.
 
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Legendary player. Was inconsistent but a destructive match winner on his day.

Will surely miss him a lot when he retires.
 
Don't think his body is up to it anymore. The real question is will his endorsements take a beating
 
Fans all over the world. A genuine superstar.

Still has a huge following around the globe.

The man who could empty a stadium with one shot.
 
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He literally used to fill in the graveyard-like stadiums of the UAE with his presence only.

Easily the most loved and most famous cricketer we produced since Imran.
 
Saj said:
Fans all over the world. A genuine superstar.

Still has a huge following around the globe.

The man who could empty a stadium with one shot.
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I remember an odi vs south africa in Abu Dhabi, when afridi got out everyone ran towards the gates to beat the traffic:afridi
 
Kanpur 2005 was the game that made me not only become an Afridi fan, but a Pakistan fan. Regardless of his immaturity as a player on the field (mainly with the bat), Afridi will always be my all time favourite player. Shabaash Lala!
 
I fell in love with cricket due to ODI format and due to Shahid Afridi. I was a big fan of him when I was a kid (back in late-90's).

A true superstar.

He hasn't always made great decisions (on-field and off-field) but he was an entertainer and a complete match-winner on his day.
 
Even at 45, he is still a better leg-spin all-rounder than Shadab.

It is quite telling that his retirement from international cricket was 4 years ago, but we are yet to properly replace him as a lower-order hitter.
 
Mamoon said:
Even at 45, he is still a better leg-spin all-rounder than Shadab.

It is quite telling that his retirement from international cricket was 4 years ago, but we are yet to properly replace him as a lower-order hitter.
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I would take a 45 years old Afridi over mediocre youngsters like Faheem and Shadab anytime, with the bat and with the ball.

Shadab might be better when it comes to the "jumping around for the cameras" aspect though.
 
Too many people are looking at afridis career through rose tinted spectacles

Lets be fair he won the odd game for pakistan but more often than he was avge with the ball and a huge liability with the bat
 
Zaz said:
Too many people are looking at afridis career through rose tinted spectacles

Lets be fair he won the odd game for pakistan but more often than he was avge with the ball and a huge liability with the bat
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He was inconsistent and nobody is denying that.

However, he was easily the biggest match winner we had for a long period of time, and has given us some memorable performances nobody can repeat, not only Pakistani cricketers ( fastest 100, 50 and 5 wicket haul in the same game 3 times, Kanpur inning, 50s in 18-19 balls,..).

He is very underrated on PP, for a player who has 8000+ runs and close to 400 wickets in ODIs, being the only player in history to achieve this.
 
Mamoon said:
Even at 45, he is still a better leg-spin all-rounder than Shadab.

It is quite telling that his retirement from international cricket was 4 years ago, but we are yet to properly replace him as a lower-order hitter.
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Imad has replaced him
 
Waleed93 said:
He was inconsistent and nobody is denying that.

However, he was easily the biggest match winner we had for a long period of time, and has given us some memorable performances nobody can repeat, not only Pakistani cricketers ( fastest 100, 50 and 5 wicket haul in the same game 3 times, Kanpur inning, 50s in 18-19 balls,..).

He is very underrated on PP, for a player who has 8000+ runs and close to 400 wickets in ODIs, being the only player in history to achieve this.
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Yep. Easily the biggest matchwinner. That's why Pak won no ODI series against top 4 opposition in the last five to seven years of his career.

Mamoon said:
Even at 45, he is still a better leg-spin all-rounder than Shadab.

It is quite telling that his retirement from international cricket was 4 years ago, but we are yet to properly replace him as a lower-order hitter.
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Comparing someone with 20+ yrs of experience with someone who barely has five. That makes a lot of sense.
 
omairsiddiqui said:
Yep. Easily the biggest matchwinner. That's why Pak won no ODI series against top 4 opposition in the last five to seven years of his career.



Comparing someone with 20+ yrs of experience with someone who barely has five. That makes a lot of sense.
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Yes, we were always expected to consistently win series against top teams with legends like Jamshed, Shehzad, Hafeez, Misbah, Akmal, etc.. in the team.

Afridi and Ajmal were the two reasons Pakistan remained a decent side in LOIs in the early 2010s.

Regarding Shadab, it is safe to say that he is, and will never reach Afridi's level. Forget Afridi, he is below Imad and Hafeez as an all rounder.
 
Waleed93 said:
Yes, we were always expected to consistently win series against top teams with legends like Jamshed, Shehzad, Hafeez, Misbah, Akmal, etc.. in the team.

Afridi and Ajmal were the two reasons Pakistan remained a decent side in LOIs in the early 2010s.

Regarding Shadab, it is safe to say that he is, and will never reach Afridi's level. Forget Afridi, he is below Imad and Hafeez as an all rounder.
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A matchwinner wins games on his own. Doesn't matter who else is on the team. That is more or less the definition of a matchwinner.

Bro, go ahead and push Shadab even further down while you're at it. Hammer him into the ground. Make sure he's worse than any living, breathing professional cricketer in history.
 
ahmadharis1 said:
Met him at the GT20 Canada this year, he was very polite. Legendary cricketer
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He's mellowed over the years.

Incredible that his fan base has not decreased despite him not having played for Pakistan for several years.
 
Whilst there is no denying that he has scored 8000 runs and taken 350 plus wickets , he did play a hell of a lot matches in fact nearly 400 one day matches to achieve these figures .
I did a close analysis of Afridi’s average and after his 4th game his average never went over 24 .
He was terribly inconsistent with the bat and at times he became a liability when batting at 7 for Pakistan as he never took responsibility.
No doubt he had some great matches for Pakistan but he did have 400 matches to do them in. When you have talent like Afridi did , with the law of averages he was always going to deliver once in 8-10 games . That does not make him great . It just means he was doing enough to stay in the team .

He was box office no doubt .
 
omairsiddiqui said:
A matchwinner wins games on his own. Doesn't matter who else is on the team. That is more or less the definition of a matchwinner.

Bro, go ahead and push Shadab even further down while you're at it. Hammer him into the ground. Make sure he's worse than any living, breathing professional cricketer in history.
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A match winner is someone who's great performances impact the team's results in a positive manner, and Afridi was a great match winner. Nobody wins a cricket game on his own, bar a few exceptional performances, for example, Afridi's own all round brilliance against the WI in 2013 or against SL in 2011.

I am not pushing Shadab down. I am just rating him as high as he should be rated, according to his performances. Him being 20 or 30 years old doesn't make any difference. In the current Pakistan team, Imad is atleast twice the all rounder he is, someone who adds value to the team with 10 economical overs and a quickfire batting cameo at No.7.

Shadab has a strike rate hovering below 70 in ODIs, and a mediocre bowling record if you exclude minnows. Imad is someone who deserves to be called our main all rounder, not Shadab.
 
I don;t want him to make a comeback, but if we're not looking at future and Hafeez is called back, I would bring Afridi and even Kamran Akmal before Hafeez the chucker.
 
Hes definitely overated not underated Someone like sharma or kohli are match winners Those that consistently turn up every 2nd or 3rd game and take the team home

Someone who turned up once every 10 games and failed in the rest isnt a match winner imo
 
So even after 20 years it is still only "nearly"? Means he will play for another 10 years.
 
Cricket has been done with him for about twenty years now.
 
Titan24 said:
Will be the end of an era. What a superstar he was, yes I wasnt a fan of situational awareness when it comes to batting but 8000+ ODI runs at a SR of 117 and close to 400 ODI wickets. If I am not wrong he is the only one in the history of ODI cricket with 350+ wickets and 8000+ runs. Also not to forget 335 wickets in T20s around the world at an economy of 6.69.

One of the biggest stars the game has scene, with people coming to stadium only to see him play.
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Even players like Shivam Dubey can achieve these stats if they get to play as many games as Afrdi ~ what a loser
 
bala977 said:
Even players like Shivam Dubey can achieve these stats if they get to play as many games as Afrdi ~ what a loser
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Lol but they can't get to play that many games, you can't play 400 games on luck alone
 
Titan24 said:
Will be the end of an era. What a superstar he was, yes I wasnt a fan of situational awareness when it comes to batting but 8000+ ODI runs at a SR of 117 and close to 400 ODI wickets. If I am not wrong he is the only one in the history of ODI cricket with 350+ wickets and 8000+ runs. Also not to forget 335 wickets in T20s around the world at an economy of 6.69.

One of the biggest stars the game has scene, with people coming to stadium only to see him play.
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Jayasuriya was a much better allrounder than Afridi ever was.
 
Savak said:
Lol but they can't get to play that many games, you can't play 400 games on luck alone
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- 40 ICC games (world cup and champions trophy) and a batting average of 14.5
- 39 tournament finals/semis and a batting average of 18

I think fair to say that Afridi was an entertaining player in bilateral series and not so important matches, but not a man you pick for important ODIs or tournaments.

I also quite like Lala, as he was entertaining cricketer and comes across as a good person (though massively orthodox) but don't think he played 400 ODIs on merit.
 
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bala977 said:
Even players like Shivam Dubey can achieve these stats if they get to play as many games as Afrdi ~ what a loser
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Thats a bold statement. If you and some others really believe that then why do some Indian posters have issues when people say that even other batsmen could have achieved as many runs and centuries as Tendulkar if they also have played 200 tests?

To play as much international cricket you need to be talent good enough to represent your country from a very young age and then continue to be decent enough to do so for more than 2 decades.
 
happydavy said:
- 40 ICC games (world cup and champions trophy) and a batting average of 14.5
- 39 tournament finals/semis and a batting average of 18

I think fair to say that Afridi was an entertaining player in bilateral series and not so important matches, but not a man you pick for important ODIs or tournaments.

I also quite like Lala, as he was entertaining cricketer and comes across as a good person (though massively orthodox) but don't think he played 400 ODIs on merit.
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Why are you discounting his bowling when he was clearly a bowling all rounder in LOIs? He was extraordinary in 2011 WC and did extremely well in 2009 T20 WC along with other heroics.
 
32 MOM awards in 398 games; MOM award in every 12th game. These are more MOM awards than Sanga in lesser matches and same as Ponting who only played 23 less matches and overall 6th in the history.

Damn, I am not even a big Afridi fan but some posters are bringing in Dubey in comparison of Afridi. Like really? I am pretty sure such posters would want to grab an all rounder who can win his team a match singlehandedly in every 12th match.
 
Titan24 said:
32 MOM awards in 398 games; MOM award in every 12th game. These are more MOM awards than Sanga in lesser matches and same as Ponting who only played 23 less matches and overall 6th in the history.

Damn, I am not even a big Afridi fan but some posters are bringing in Dubey in comparison of Afridi. Like really? I am pretty sure such posters would want to grab an all rounder who can win his team a match singlehandedly in every 12th match.
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No offense but your post lost a bit of substance when instead of analyzing Dubey's uselessness, you decided to raise MOM's and compare Afridi to Ponting and Sanga.

Afridi was an entertainer and should not be mentioned in the same league as ATG cricketers.

Entertainers are supposed to entertain only and that means if they fire once every 12th match as you said, its fine and u get a win.

But entertainers shouldnt be compared to actual ATG cricketers because they are usually useless in remaining 11 matches.
 
Dr_Bassim said:
No offense but your post lost a bit of substance when instead of analyzing Dubey's uselessness, you decided to raise MOM's and compare Afridi to Ponting and Sanga.

Afridi was an entertainer and should not be mentioned in the same league as ATG cricketers.

Entertainers are supposed to entertain only and that means if they fire once every 12th match as you said, its fine and u get a win.

But entertainers shouldnt be compared to actual ATG cricketers because they are usually useless in remaining 11 matches.
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I havent compared Afridi to Ponting and Sanga rather I have just mentioned facts regarding Afridi's MOMs to manifest that he was a much better cricketer than some are trying to imply.

Obviously he was inconsistent as reflected in his stats as well however, I think its wrong to call him just an entertainer when he was a pretty good cricketer as too. Its not child's play to score 8000 runs and get close to 400 wickets, if we can call him just an entertainer than I would love to see other entertainers as well who can achieve similar feats alongside entertainment.
 
Titan24 said:
I havent compared Afridi to Ponting and Sanga rather I have just mentioned facts regarding Afridi's MOMs to manifest that he was a much better cricketer than some are trying to imply.

Obviously he was inconsistent as reflected in his stats as well however, I think its wrong to call him just an entertainer when he was a pretty good cricketer as too. Its not child's play to score 8000 runs and get close to 400 wickets, if we can call him just an entertainer than I would love to see other entertainers as well who can achieve similar feats alongside entertainment.
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Yep very difficult to score 20 runs and take 1 wkt a game
 
Zaz said:
Yep very difficult to score 20 runs and take 1 wkt a game
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If 1.5 wickets per match can make bowlers legend than 23 runs and wicket a game isnt to shabby.

Nevertheless I have never once said that he was an ATG in this whole thread and I dont think he was but he surely was a good cricketer and not at all the way some are implying.
 
Titan24 said:
If 1.5 wickets per match can make bowlers legend than 23 runs and wicket a game isnt to shabby.

Nevertheless I have never once said that he was an ATG in this whole thread and I dont think he was but he surely was a good cricketer and not at all the way some are implying.
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Maybe then you shouldnt have compared him to the likes of ponting and sanga

Anyway hopefully the likes of hafeez and malik can follow afridi soon and then we ll be done with that generation of pseudo bits and pieces cricketers that have helped ruin pakistan cricket
 
Zaz said:
Maybe then you shouldnt have compared him to the likes of ponting and sanga

Anyway hopefully the likes of hafeez and malik can follow afridi soon and then we ll be done with that generation of pseudo bits and pieces cricketers that have helped ruin pakistan cricket
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I didnt thought that people would perceive it as actually comparing Afridi with Sanga and Ponting which isnt a comparison at all. It was just to represent his match winning ability on his day and to show that he wasnt how some people are implying by comparing him with the likes of Dubey.

I agree Pak over did Afridi, Hafeez, Malik thing when there should have been only one in the team more often than not instead of all 3 or 2 playing matches for Pak in ODIs.
 
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