Shahid Afridi’s desire to come out of exodus once again and represent the national team has not gone down well with former Pakistan cricket captain Wasim Akram, who termed the maverick all-rounder’s retirement from the game “a joke“.
Afridi, who announced his retirement earlier this year after differences with the team management, recently expressed his desire to make a comeback after head coach Waqar Younis’ tenure came to end with the conclusion of the Zimbabwe tour.
But Akram slammed such whimsical tactics of the all-rounder and said Afridi should make up his mind “once and for all” about his retirement.
“Shahid Afridi is making things too complicated for the Pakistan Cricket Board. Cricket is a team game and not an individual sport. You have to treat the interests of the team and the management above your individual preferences. So I think Afridi should decide once and for all whether he wants to retire or not,” Akram said.
“His (Afridi’s) retirement has become a joke now. You can’t play cricket on your own terms. You will have difference with your coaches, with your chairman and with your colleagues but it should not show in your outlook. At the end of the day you are representing your nation - Pakistan,” the legendary left-arm pacer told Mobile ESPN.
Incidentally, after being appointed Test captain in 2010 Afridi quit after just one match, citing lack of form and inability to play the longer version of the game.
His next retirement episode came just after leading Pakistan to the semi-final of the 2011 World Cup.
After the World Cup, Afridi was replaced as captain by Misbah-ul-Haq and in protest he announced his conditional retirement, citing differences with coach Waqar.
