Shahid Afridi calls Waqar Younis ‘A mediocre captain and a terrible coach’

Shahid Afridi was an explosive cricketer during his playing days and even this year, he showed the world what he is capable of with both bat and ball, representing the Multan Sultans. The 39-year-old veteran from Khyber Agency is a true entertainer and most importantly, doesn’t curb his natural instincts, oblivious of the opinions people form about his game and comments about certain matters.

The same characteristic was also seen in Afridi’s biography, ‘Game Changer’ that hit the stands on Thursday, April 30 and has already gained popularity. In the book, Afridi also opined about his relationship with former Pakistan cricketer Waqar Younis. Back in 2011, when Pakistan were touring the West Indies, Waqar, who was the national coach, lashed out at the former captain.

He hadn’t let go of the past

Waqar mentioned: “as a captain, he is very immature, has poor discipline, lacks a gameplan and is unwilling to listen to others’ opinions or advice.” It was pretty clear that there was a rift between the legendary cricketers. Intikhab Alam, the team manager on the tour, remarked that while Waqar had been ‘arrogant’, at times, Afridi was a ‘highly hyperactive personality’ who lacks temperament.

“Unfortunately, he hadn’t let go of the past. Waqar and I had a history, dating all the way back to his tiff with Wasim over the captaincy crown. He was a mediocre captain but a terrible coach, always micromanaging and getting in the way, trying to tell the captain – me – what to do… It was a natural clash and it was bound to happen,” Afridi mentioned while going down the memory lane.

Parking aside the differences, there’s no doubt in the fact that Afridi and Waqar contributed to a number of Pakistan’s victories. Waqar represented his nation in 87 Tests and 262 ODIs in which he picked up 373 and 416 wickets respectively. On the other hand, Boom Boom Afridi picked up 48, 395 and 98 wickets in 27 Tests, 398 ODIs and 99 T20Is. He was a brute force with the bat as well, having scored 1716, 8064 and 1416 runs respectively. He retired from international cricket last year in May.

[interaction id=”5cc87a962ea93c1c050b5d16″]

Join CricTracker on Telegram. Match Predictions, Fantasy Guides and other handpicked stories every day. Subscribe to our Telegram channel.