Quote:
|
He might be the least-worse option.. but if Pakistan need Afridi in the Test side I fear the management must pretty desperate.
|
Not at all Rachael; any team would be happy to include Afridi in their team, in his current form, with Australia being the only possible exception, though even they are looking for an all-rounder. Afridi now is a proven match-winner, both with the bat and the ball; not many Pakistani "specialists" with either bat or ball can boast that, nor can many established Test journeymen from other countries. In the very recent Indian series, Afridi's batting was the only reason Pakistan had any hope of a favourable result going into the 5th day at Calcutta. And then when we actually won at Bangalore, it was Afridi who shone through on the fourth and fifth dats. First, with his batting he created time where none previously existed and allowed an aggressive declaration. Secondly, on the last day his bowling was instrumental in creating pressure on the Indian batsmen; he took five wickets in that Test, which is four more than Kumble did. And his fifth day wickets were no hapless tailend bunnies; he actually took the heart out of India's fabled middle-order, picking up Ganguly, Laxman and the most prixed wicket that day, Tendulkar.
In the context of the current (Barbados) Test, it is again pointless blaming Afridi; on the fourth day, Pakistan did not have a realistic chance of drawing; in fact, the chance of them actually winning (at 0.01%) was probably greater than the even remoter likelihood of them lasting 2 whole days with four wickets already down and no Inzi around. Afridi's innings should be seen in that context; Pakistan were going to lose that Test, much better to go down fighting, and not timidly surrender. He was the only reason we lost by 270 odd runs, and not by a completely humiliating 400 odd runs.
While he was batting, he had the West Indians completely rattled and their captain and bowlers were clueless; add to that the fact that if he had managed to stay there for another two hours the match situation may well have changed completely, and you have another valuable contribution from him He took three wickets in the second innings, and outbowled everyone else in his side; he lasted for more deliveries than all but one of his team mates, and scored more than anyone else - and still you choose to pick on him? There were many reasons why Pakistan lost by 270 odd runs, but Shahid Afridi is emphatically not one of them.
29-05-2005, 03:19 PM
in reply to cantplaycantalk's post starting "Kind of expect them to be a bit wayward..." 
Linear Mode
