An agitated Shahid Afridi, who stunningly quit international cricket to protest his sacking as Pakistan's ODI captain, has accused selection committee member Mohammad Illyas of orchestrating a campaign against him.
Pakistan's recently axed one-day captain Shahid Afridi has announced his 'conditional' retirement from international games, as a protest against the 'humiliation' meted out to him by the Pakistani Cricket Board, NDTV reported on Tuesday.
The former Pakistan captain said he had enjoyed the most playing his cricket in India.
The Pakistan Cricket Board has stripped Shahid Afridi as captain of the one-day internationals team for the forthcoming series against Ireland. Chairman of the board Ijaz Butt told a media conference in Islamabad that senior batsman Misbah-ul-Haq would lead the team in the two one-day matches against Ireland on May 28 and 30.
After appealing for peace between India and Pakistan, former Pakistan cricket captain Shahid Afridi has now taken an aggressive stance with respect to strained relations between the two neighbouring countries. Speaking at a cricket show, the all-rounder was asked to react on an article by an Indian news portal that allegedly ridiculed his tweet and stated that 'Afridi was scared of Indian Army.'
The Pakistan all-rounder was banned for four ODIs for bringing the game into disrepute.
Afridi, who led Pakistan to their first one-day series win since late 2008 with victory over New Zealand on Thursday, will have Test captain Misbah-ul-Haq as his deputy.
Pakistan might have halted Australia's 34-game winning streak in the World Cup in Colombo on Saturday but captain Shahid Afridi was angry with his own "irresponsible" batting effort in the game.
Pakistan captain Shahid Afridi has compared batting maestro Virat Kohli with the legendary Sachin Tendulkar, saying he has now become the wall of the Indian cricket team, winning match after match with his bat.
Pakistan captain Shan Masood said his team showed tremendous character to register back-to-back victories against England and win their first Test series on home soil since 2021.
Flamboyant all-rounder Shahid Afridi will not be included in the 15-member national squad for the ICC Champions Trophy, to be held in England in June, sources claimed in Karachi on Friday.
'Shocked and hurt' by Shahid Afridi's comments that Pakistan's cricketers are loved more by Indians than the fans in their own country, former captain Javed Miandad said players making such statements should be 'ashamed' of themselves.
Hampshire has denied signing swashbuckling Pakistan all-rounder Shahid Afridi for the remaining part of the Friends Provident Twenty20 championship. 'Shahid won't be joining us,' Hampshire manager Giles White told BBC Radio. White said that his team is already packed, and it would be difficult to accommodate Afridi in the side for the quarter-final tie against Warwickshire.
Pakistan's flamboyant batsman said he would not be targeting any particular bowler but would concentrate on scoring the maximum off loose deliveries.
Former Pakistan coach Geoff Lawson feels Shoaib Malik should have replaced Shahid Afridi as skipper of the national cricket team instead of Salman Butt.
The source, however, disputed Fakhar's tone and said one of the newly inducted selectors, former captain Azhar Ali had spoken to length with Babar on Saturday and explained to him the decision to rest him for the two Tests.
Pakistan's former captain Javed Miandad has blasted the national team and made it clear that the current T20 captain Shahid Afridi didn't deserve a place in the side. "How can you have a player who no one knows how he will perform. Afridi's place in the team was over few years back," Miandad told 'Aaj' channel. The Pakistan great added, "How can you expect to win or improve your cricket when a player who stopped being a reliable performer some years ago is still playing in the national team. He is captain." Miandad said that he can only see Pakistan cricket going downwards as the domestic circuit is not producing quality talent since it's full of nepotism and favoritism. "You still have parchi (slip) system in domestic cricket even at district level. It only looks good on surface but in reality it is not producing quality players." Miandad said the board was the one who was responsible for all appointments.
Opener Shadman Islam missed out on a century in his comeback test match as Bangladesh blunted pace-heavy Pakistan's attack and reached 316-5 at stumps on the third day of the first test on Friday.
The two join captain Inzamam-ul-Haq, Yousuf Youhana, Shoaib Akhtar and Abdul Razzaq as the highest paid performers
Pakistan have included the all-rounder in a 16-man squad for their final three ODIs against England.
Pakistan's disgraced cricketer Salman Butt has tendered a personal apology to his former captain Shahid Afridi when they crossed paths at the national cricket academy in Lahore.
Flamboyant all-rounder Shahid Afridi will appear before a six-member inquiry committee on Friday to explain his ball-biting antic in Perth, while captain Mohammad Yousuf and coach Intikhab Alam would depose with their versions of the team's comprehensive rout in Australia.
Pakistan's flamboyant all-rounder Shahid Afridi could be retained for the three ODIs in India if he strikes form in the two T20 International matches to be held in Bangalore and Ahmedabad.
A scheduled press conference by flamboyant all-rounder Shahid Afridi, which had set the rumour mills working overtime, has been called off after the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) advised him not to address the media.
Pakistani all-rounder Shahid Afridi will come out next year with his autobiography in which he opens up about his "rivalries and alliances", particularly those with India, as well as his infatuation with the military and his take on politics. "Shahid Afridi: An Autobiography", written with journalist Wajahat S Khan, is an account of one of modern-day cricket's most controversial and high-achieving practitioners, who in 1996, as a 16-year-old, hammered a record-breaking 37-ball century. Afridi also holds the distinction of having hit the most number of sixes in the history of ODI cricket and most wickets (97) and most player-of-the match awards in T20 Internationals.
Legendary Sachin Tendulkar, presented the Championship trophy to the victorious Chicago Cricket Club as the National Cricket Championship ended on a memorable note.
Sachin Tendulkar has joined America's National Cricket League (NCL) ownership group, a move that is expected to give a big boost to the sport in the United States.
The all-rounder also feels that the Indian team also has the advantage of playing at home ground and with crowd support.
Fast bowler Gus Atkinson and wicketkeeper Jamie Smith will make their red-ball debuts for England in the first of the three-match home series
Pakistan all-rounder Shahid Afridi hailed New Zealand batsman Corey Anderson, who broke his long-standing record for the fastest one-day century - but admitted he had never heard of him before
Pakistan skipper Babar Azam rued the mistakes his side made against India and the United States of America in their earlier Group A matches, even as the former champions bid adieu to the T20 World Cup with a consolation three-wicket victory over Ireland at Lauderhill, Florida, on Sunday.
India's stand-in captain said if not for the start given by the dashing Pakistan opener, the fifth ODI would have been closer.
Flamboyant Pakistan all-rounder Shahid Afridi has turned down an offer from Australian state side Tasmania as he wants to concentrate on the coming series against New Zealand, followed by tour of the Down Under.
The national team manager Intikhab Alam has blamed captain Shahid Afridi for Pakistan cricket team's recent poor performances, including at the World Twenty20 in India. The report states that Afridi was involved in 'needless controversies' during the World T20. In the five-page report submitted to the PCB and fact-finding committee of the PCB, Alam said that the team failed to sustain the stress and the pressure associated with the world event. "The recent Asia Cup and the ICC World T20 have made it evident that we have critical gaps both in batting and bowling and our fielding keeps on leaking runs, thus releasing pressure. In bowling, with the exception of Muhammad Amir, we do not have a bowler who can win us matches. "Our death bowling also is way below par. And the same goes with our batting line-up, where we do not have reliable pinch hitters and the top and power hitter to clinch us games," Alam wrote in his report, leaked to media.
He is looking forward to Pakistan touring India later this year, but flamboyant all-rounder Shahid Afridi feels the resumption of bilateral cricket ties between the two countries can be a complete success only if the Indians also visit his nation.
Pakistan Cricket Board chairman Mohsin Naqvi has indicated that a decision on Shaheen Shah Afridi's future as captain of the T20 team will be taken after the upcoming national camp in Kakul.
Pakistan captain Shan Masood termed their series-levelling victory in the second Test against England "special" as the hosts snapped their nearly four-year winless run on home soil in this format.
