Afridi shot himself in the foot by quitting ODIs

KARACHI: Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) has seldom believed in long-term planning but under Shaharyar Khan it did have a plan aimed at grooming and then installing a future captain possibly for all three formats of the game.
The plan was to say a limited-overs goodbye to Misbah-ul-Haq after World Cup 2015, appoint a stop-gap captain for One-day Internationals and place an under-study with him somebody whom the board thought would be good enough to become Pakistan’s long-term skipper.
It was a realistic plan and the Board was all set to go ahead with it before Shahid Afridi dropped a bombshell last month.
Without discussing the matter with the Board, Afridi addressed a press conference in Karachi in which he announced his decision to retire from ODI cricket after the World Cup.
The reason why Afridi’s announcement ruined PCB’s captaincy plans was that the Board had made up its mind to appoint the seasoned all-rounder as Pakistan’s ODI captain after the World Cup for around a year. The idea was to have a young player as vice-captain who would take over as captain from Afridi sometimes next year.
“By announcing his retirement without even discussing it with the Board, Afridi shot himself in the foot. It was almost set that he (Afridi) will be appointed as Pakistan’s ODI captain for around a one-year period after the World Cup. The decision even had the blessings of (PCB chairman) Shaharyar Khan,” a senior PCB official told ‘The News’.
The official added that Afridi’s sudden announcement came as an unpleasant surprise for the Board and allowed the player’s critics within the PCB to prevail as far as the captaincy issue was concerned.
“The thing is that within the Board there was support for Afridi and there was also some opposition. His (Afridi’s) supporters were silenced after the retirement announcement as it didn’t go too well with Board’s higher-ups and it was decided that Afridi was too much of a loose cannon to be entrusted with the job of captaincy even on a temporary basis,” the official said.
According to the official, PCB had also made up its mind to ask Misbah-ul-Haq to end his ODI career after the World Cup. But the senior batsman read the writing on the wall and opted to tell the Board first that he would not play limited-overs cricket after the World Cup.
For Misbah, too, PCB has devised a plan.
It wants the experienced batsman, Pakistan’s most successful captain in Tests, to carry on leading the team in the longest format of the game.
“The idea is to have Misbah as Test captain for another year or so or till the time he is fit and doing well,” the PCB official said. “He (Misbah) has been a good Test captain and deserves to continue till the time he is contributing well towards the team’s cause.”
Unless there is any problem with his fitness, Misbah is set to lead Pakistan in the home series against England later this year and again in an even bigger one planned against India in the UAE.
Pakistan could have carried on with Misbah for a longer span but the fact that time is not on his side has forced the Board to consider other available options.
Misbah will turn 41 soon after the World Cup and is unlikely to continue playing international cricket any longer than a year or so.
Meanwhile, Afridi’s chances of retaining the Twenty20 International captaincy will hinge on his performance in the World Cup to be co-hosted by Australia and New Zealand in February-March.
Pakistan have appointed Afridi as their T20 captain till next year’s World Twenty20 championship but according to the PCB official “nothing’s carved in stone” as far as the captaincy issue is concerned.
“Though there is this general consensus (in the Board) that there is still some Twenty20 cricket left in Afridi things will only take a final shape after the World Cup,” the official said.
Afridi, 34, has vowed to give his best in Australia and New Zealand in a bid to win back the World Cup for Pakistan.
“It is my greatest desire to help Pakistan regain the World Cup crown,” Afridi told ‘The News’ last month. “It is the one goal that’s most important to me,” he stressed.
“I’ve been thinking about it (ODI retirement) for quite some time and believe that the World Cup is a perfect occasion to quit,” he said.
“I’ve always wanted to go out on a high. Over the years I’ve seen so many of Pakistani cricketers bowing out in a not so respectable manner.
“I have always told myself to avoid a similar situation and thankfully I have this opportunity to announce my decision to retire at a proper time.” It turns out that Afridi didn’t read the situation well.