[VIDEO] "I can still handle 10 guys like you alone" : Shahid Afridi

[Hadi Rizvi]

When the team would be 25/3 most of the times, and Misbah was at the crease, what else would you have him do for us ? You consider his 50's as useless, then i guess the barrage of 2's, 10's, and 20's that our batting displayed were scintillating knocks ? Fact of the matter is, Misbah was the only person who could bat, and managed to get us to totals considered competitive.

This argument is pathetic to say the least. Wasn't Pak 2-3 in the 2nd ODI in England? They still scored 251 which is impressive and surprising for me. They reached there mainly because of Sarfi and Imad who are aggressive players with positive intent. Misbah never ever looked positive in the way he batted in ODIs where Pak was around 40-3.

I'm not a Misbah basher but his style of batting was not suited to batting comebacks or revivals at all. And IMO, if he could only rotate the strike and have a little trust in his partner then he would easily have a strike rate of 80-85+ and Pak wouldn't have to stick around at 3-4 RPO.

IIRC, Misbah recently said in an interview that he used to put his pads on even before the openers in ODIs. That pretty much sums up his negativity and trust in his fellow batsmen. Again, all of this is for Misbah the LOIs captain/batsman not Tests for which he is perfectly suited.

 

[The_KING]

Hahahahh classic pathan reply.....hopefully lala is back!

Hopefully not

 

[Barragan]

He never had it in him to begin with. Please forget about Afridi the poor player. It's time to move on.

Completely false and untrue, that he never had it in him.

Let's begin the analysis:

In the inaugural 07 T20 WC - he was the joint 2nd highest wicket taker (12 wkts) in the tournament and at an excellent economy of 6.71.

In the 09 WC - he ended up as the 5th highest wicket taker (11 wkts) in the tournament and at an outstanding economy of 5.32, which was better than Ajmal, Gul, Mendis (at his peak), Murli, Malinga etc. Also, he really shined with the bat and ended up as the 8th highest run scorer in the tournament.

In the 10 WC - he was off colour, but his economy was decent at 7.58 and that is the equivalent of giving away 30 runs in his 4 allocated overs.

In the 12 WC - he did slightly better with an economy of 7.18 and proved difficult to hit.

In the 14 WC - he bounced back and was Pak's joint 2nd highest wicket taker at an economy of 6.53, which is better than Ajmal, Gul, and Zulfi.

What's the whole point of all those stats? To show that he has always been able to strangle the opposition with his bowling and played a huge role for Pak reaching the semi's in 4 out of the 6 tournaments held.

Also, his overall economy is still very healthy at 6.61 and has picked up a wicket nearly every match, plus with an average of 18 runs at 151 SR is also very good with 4 or 3 overs to go, meaning Pak can go from 122 to 140 with his blitz at the end.

Pak have won the most T20I's - Afridi, Gul, Ajmal and Hafeez played a massive role in those wins by working together and strangling the oppositions.

If Pak had 3 or 4 other bowlers like Afridi with his 4 overs for 26 runs, then Pak would be back to its glory days and dominating this format, plus 18 runs at a SR of 51 with 4 or 3 overs to go at the end is an added bonus and can really propel a team to a winning total.

 

[Monsee]

Completely false and untrue, that he never had it in him.

Let's begin the analysis:

In the inaugural 07 T20 WC - he was the joint 2nd highest wicket taker (12 wkts) in the tournament and at an excellent economy of 6.71.

In the 09 WC - he ended up as the 5th highest wicket taker (11 wkts) in the tournament and at an outstanding economy of 5.32, which was better than Ajmal, Gul, Mendis (at his peak), Murli, Malinga etc. Also, he really shined with the bat and ended up as the 8th highest run scorer in the tournament.

In the 10 WC - he was off colour, but his economy was decent at 7.58 and that is the equivalent of giving away 30 runs in his 4 allocated overs.

In the 12 WC - he did slightly better with an economy of 7.18 and proved difficult to hit.

In the 14 WC - he bounced back and was Pak's joint 2nd highest wicket taker at an economy of 6.53, which is better than Ajmal, Gul, and Zulfi.

What's the whole point of all those stats? To show that he has always been able to strangle the opposition with his bowling and played a huge role for Pak reaching the semi's in 4 out of the 6 tournaments held.

Also, his overall economy is still very healthy at 6.61 and has picked up a wicket nearly every match, plus with an average of 18 runs at 151 SR is also very good with 4 or 3 overs to go, meaning Pak can go from 122 to 140 with his blitz at the end.

Pak have won the most T20I's - Afridi, Gul, Ajmal and Hafeez played a massive role in those wins by working together and strangling the oppositions.

If Pak had 3 or 4 other bowlers like Afridi with his 4 overs for 26 runs, then Pak would be back to its glory days and dominating this format, plus 18 runs at a SR of 51 with 4 or 3 overs to go at the end is an added bonus and can really propel a team to a winning total.

Allah naan karaay...hopefully this primadonna is gone for good, he is the sole reason for this hara kari style of cricket played by most Pak cricketers these days

 

[savecricket]

Can someone tell this guy to stop calling the selectors like he has some say in the matter. Pure arrogance. Please don't let this guy anywhere near the set-up.

 

[#GreenRoars]

Interestingly enough, you left out one of the key aspects in this format, which is economy rate and he has an economy of 7.06 and that is really good.

Fair enough, if you don't pick up wickets in this format, but make sure you are economical and that is what he has done.

As for batting, he has always been hit and miss.

Although, disappointed he didn't play in this current tournament and show the selectors he still has it in him.

He played only one match, in which he smashed Sohail Tanvir for 2 sixes and 2 fours in last over of the match

Due to injury, he couldn't play more.

 

[#GreenRoars]

Allah naan karaay...hopefully this primadonna is gone for good, he is the sole reason for this hara kari style of cricket played by most Pak cricketers these days

Aham, actually in our International Team (Both T20I and ODI), none of the players is playing like this which you have mentioned. We are seeing total opposite approach, and even in our domestic structure.

Apart from Sharjeel.

 

[Indiafan]

with the same dometic craps pakistan managed to beat england in england in tests and T20s why not in the ODIs...

Using the same logic, Misbah as a captain won the test series, why blame him for ODIs?

 

[Indiafan]

Handling 10 guys have nothing to do with fitness when it comes to cricket. Afridi has completely lost it. Please keep this joker away from Pakistan cricket team!

Maybe he meant doing push-ups with 10 guys on his back?

 

[ask_analyse_act]

Using the same logic, Misbah as a captain won the test series, why blame him for ODIs?

I said in tests and T20s, Misbah captain in tests, in t20s MISBAH got axed following the 4-0 whitewash and the t20 where he couldnt win batting till at the end got bowled by dernbach coulnt chase 129 which i mentioned in earlier posts here... Misbah had time to captain in tests where in LOIs you need to be quick with your bat and also decision making which didnt suit him... He was sacked as T20I captain in 2012 had he been sacked the same time from ODIs pak wouldnt be ranked no.9... MISBAH's batting and captaincy didnt suit the modern day attacking LOIs where margin of error is slim and there is no time at all to play the waiting game..

 

[Rinnegan Sasuke]

This argument is pathetic to say the least. Wasn't Pak 2-3 in the 2nd ODI in England? They still scored 251 which is impressive and surprising for me. They reached there mainly because of Sarfi and Imad who are aggressive players with positive intent. Misbah never ever looked positive in the way he batted in ODIs where Pak was around 40-3.

I'm not a Misbah basher but his style of batting was not suited to batting comebacks or revivals at all. And IMO, if he could only rotate the strike and have a little trust in his partner then he would easily have a strike rate of 80-85+ and Pak wouldn't have to stick around at 3-4 RPO.

IIRC, Misbah recently said in an interview that he used to put his pads on even before the openers in ODIs. That pretty much sums up his negativity and trust in his fellow batsmen. Again, all of this is for Misbah the LOIs captain/batsman not Tests for which he is perfectly suited.

Not pathetic at all, our batting was much worse than it is now, without Misbah all we had was a hit-miss U. Akaml, Hack Maqsood, and two openers averaging in their 20's with Afridi coming in at as the last "batsman". Misbah was forced to bat the way he did due to him being the only quality bat, he;s mentioned it multiple times as well, and he did well not trust them too much, considering that is what usually put us in situations like 23-3, and like I said before had he gone earlier and got out, we'd be getting 200's instead of 230-250

 

[zains_rulez]

This is how much he is fit

<iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/f4QRjh5Vpp0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

 

[Suleiman]

I think people are going overboard with the anti-Afridi sentiment here. Farcry from 2011 where he was seen as the let-down hero and Misbah was the villain, a lot can happen in 5 years. You either retire a hero, or play long enough to see yourself become the villain, I guess..

But seriously speaking, Afridi is not the leech or club cricketer he is being painted as in recent times. May be a case of goldfish like memory or even selective memory, but one thing is for certain, cricket has never seen a player like Afridi, and may never see one like him ever again. That can be a good or bad thing depending on your affiliation.

What no one can deny though is that he had certain gifts custom made for cricket. Incredible hand-eye coordination, and an uncanny ability to succeed in any facet be it batting, bowling, or fielding, yet he never fulfilled his ability fully in either facet.

Started off as a bowler, but a very average one. His batting though, was like a rush of adrenaline (still is), but was a more controlled sort of adrenaline rush. He had decent technique back in the late 90s, positive influence of being in the same dressing room as true legends like Anwar, Inzi, Moyo perhaps. Wasim does talk about Afridi working on his batting back then under those guys' watchful eyes.

Wasn't always about closing the eyes and slogging blindly. Back then he could drive, hit the gaps which he still can do better than most specialist batsmen we have today, and was an absolute clean striker of the ball back then.

Yet he still played with a purpose in those times, like his 141 in Chennai vs India. That's what Afridi should've been about. Controlled aggression with a touch of madness. Unfortunately he overdosed on madness and by about 2010-2011 he didn't come out to bat with a purpose anymore, he came out to bat because he was asked to. No planning, no nothing. Ofc it is entertaining, but didn't deliver as often as anymore.

Still, probably the most interesting career trajectory ever. From being just a bowler to a batsman who as an alright bowler from late 90s to about 2006. Then from a bowler who can hit a few from 2007 to 2011. And then it just sort of faded from there. Ideally in ODIs he should've ended with about bat average of 30 to 33 with 95-109 SR

 

[Monsee]

Aham, actually in our International Team (Both T20I and ODI), none of the players is playing like this which you have mentioned. We are seeing total opposite approach, and even in our domestic structure.

Apart from Sharjeel.

Almost every single batsman including people like Akmal, Shehzad etc., when they hit hard, they always point towards the mid-on or long on areas, something Afridi basically played all his life and failed in so many instances!

When you wanna go big, the best shot to play is straight especially since it is the shortest boundary and you have less of a chance of putting so much energy and still getting caught because the ball did not travel all the way.

At a point when Woolmer was coach, Afridi was been advised and coched in to hitting the ball straight and for a while he has having much success too and then he resorted back to old habbits aka hit to mid-on and getting caught every other shot

 

[aukhan]

Shameless guy. Keep him away from Pakistan's dressing room.

 

[Barragan]

Allah naan karaay...hopefully this primadonna is gone for good, he is the sole reason for this hara kari style of cricket played by most Pak cricketers these days

What are you talking about?

Did you even read the part you highlighted?

If Pak had 4 bowlers like him, then we would a see a team strangled for 106 runs after 16 overs and even if the 5th bowler gets carted around for 40 runs, then the opposition would only manage a total of 146 runs.

This is what he, Gul, Ajmal and Hafeez did a few years back and the reason why Pak once had the best W/L ratio in this format and have won the most games, plus reached the semi's of 4 out of 6 WC's.

On top of that, his 18 runs at 151 coming in at 7 - with 5 or 4 overs to go is a great boost to a teams total and the "hara kari" is style perfect at the end.

 

[Barragan]

He played only one match, in which he smashed Sohail Tanvir for 2 sixes and 2 fours in last over of the match

Due to injury, he couldn't play more.

Okay, fair enough.

 

[Monsee]

What are you talking about?

Did you even read the part you highlighted?

If Pak had 4 bowlers like him, then we would a see a team strangled for 106 runs after 16 overs and even if the 5th bowler gets carted around for 40 runs, then the opposition would only manage a total of 146 runs.

This is what he, Gul, Ajmal and Hafeez did a few years back and the reason why Pak once had the best W/L ratio in this format and have won the most games, plus reached the semi's of 4 out of 6 WC's.

On top of that, his 18 runs at 151 coming in at 7 - with 5 or 4 overs to go is a great boost to a teams total and the "hara kari" is style perfect at the end.

Check the numbers again, especially against any strong batting teams that play spin well and you will have your answer as well!

 

[Caved12]

Maybe he meant doing push-ups with 10 guys on his back?

or may be he was trying to tell the journalist that post retirement he has plans of becoming a wrestler

 

[Hitman]

Is that the definition of a cricketer's fitness, being able to handle 10 guys alone?

 

[Rinnegan Sasuke]

Is that the definition of a cricketer's fitness, being able to handle 10 guys alone?

Nope, it's how quickly you can get back to the pavilion from the wicket

 

[Barragan]

Check the numbers again, especially against any strong batting teams that play spin well and you will have your answer as well!

What do you mean by check the numbers again?

Also, I did look into what you said about his stats against stronger spin teams- he struggled against Ind going at 8.36, but against SL he goes at a phenomenal rate of 5.75.

Other than those two teams, I don't know what other team is quality against spin (unless he plays against Pak).

It looks like you didn't check the stats yourself and assumed, he did poorly against stronger players of spin.

 

[PakLFC]

" I can handle 10 guys like you alone!". Has Afridi got a 56 inch chest or something!!)

 

[aukhan]

" I can handle 10 guys like you alone!". Has Afridi got a 56 inch chest or something!!)

May be he just watched Sultan.

Afridi vs 10 Motay mustanday in a cage match.

 

[YousafTheBeast]

Afridi 3 6’s in a row vs wahab riaz

This guy is still better than the current Pakistani batsmen.

 

[YousafTheBeast]

51 from 14 balls, still going