I will retire on my own terms: Shahid Afridi

Former Pakistan skipper Shahid Afridi, who is famous for making comebacks after announcing his retirements, recently quashed all speculations surrounding his fitness levels and cricket career. In a recent press meet, Afridi was put in a tricky situation when a journalist questioned his fitness. A quick-witted Afridi answered that he still has the ability to handle 10 guys at a time and will retire on his own terms.

“I can still handle 10 guys like you alone,” quoted ShahidAfridi. He emphasised on the fact that he will quit when he feels he is not fit enough and won’t allow anybody else to force him into retirement. He further quoted, “I am currently focusing on performing in domestic and county cricket. However, when I feel I cannot play anymore, I will retire on my own terms rather than allowing anyone to throw me out.”

He also spoke of Sarfraz Khan’s captaincy in the one solitary T20I against England which Pakistan won by 9 wickets. He was in all praise of Sarfraz but said he needs to be given time to settle into the new role before making him in-charge of the ODI setup as well. Current ODI skipper Azhar Ali is underfire from all fronts for a dismal 4-1 loss against England.

“Azhar was not able to deliver in the series against England but media should also refrain from heaping further pressure on him. Sarfraz did exceptionally well as a captain in the one-off T20I game against England but he should be given time to prove himself an asset in the long run. He was aggressive in his captaincy and we need that,” quoted Afridi who announced his retirement from ODI format after the ICC World Cup 2015 debacle.

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Afridi also spoke his heart out and lamented on the fact that the media back home makes a hero of a player in just one series. He felt that a player is given all the limelight after performing well in just one game and at the same time a player with 20 years of experience is judged based on just one poor performance.

“Our media makes a hero out of a player on the basis of just one performance and at times they pull down a senior player with 20 plus years of experience after one match or one series,” concluded Afridi.