When you think about Shahid Afridi, it's
often about taking aerial route to smash sixes and boundaries or may be bowling
quick leg spin deliveries offering little room to batsmen. You can also imagine
him giving on-field motivational support to his teammates on every delivery and
the first one to hug every bowler when he gets wicket. Even if he is in
dressing room you would find him sitting in a front row verbally lapping
batsmen on crease, always in loud words. In short, if he is in team you would
never miss him in the game, as he is every time in the play till the end. He is
such a complete and ideal package of a team player, always required in the squad.
I do not know the numbers how many
times I met him and to be honest I do not want to remember that because I
always have desired to watch him in action, in play and in grounds. He is one
of such persons whose actions speak louder than word, so I am aware when he is
sitting among his friends he is always more with his cricket rather them. In
spite he is the friend of friends.
In recent days he is not with the
national team, which is almost a settled squad at least in limited overs
formats and to do not require the services of Boom Boom anymore. But we can’t
be deprived from to remember and miss him playing in Green shirt. And, as
reported he was tired, not retired, which was the reason he is not in the
national team.
Despite he is still in action in the game and
his performance in the Bangladesh Premier League is as usually praiseworthy. Leading
the Rangpur Riders in the BPL 2016-17 season his 17 wickets in 11 matches at
14.94 include him among the top five bowlers of the event. While in batting again
his 119 runs in total are attained with an astonishing strike rate of almost
142 with the help of 7 sixes and equal number of boundaries.
Arguably, it’s not the performance
but the quality of the League which raise meager credentials for him to
convince selectors for getting him into the national team, where one ideally desires
to bid farewell his international cricket. And, it is onto selectors whether they
find him suitable enough for national outfit or not. But the Pakistan Cricket Board
will have to do more in this regard and they must devise a stage-farewell where
cricketing greats like Shahid Afridi can see off the international cricket
honorably and nobly. Perhaps the platform of the Pakistan Super League 2017 be
a perfect podium to farewell him, which can appease all the stakeholders
associated with this issue and more importantly the fans (including me) of
Shahid Khan Afridi.
By Naseem Rajput
naseemrajput@hotmail.com
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