Boom Boom Afridi vows to support Mohammad Hafeez

Shahid Khan Afridi, the renowned al-rounder and former skipper of the Pakistan cricket team, vowed to second Mohammad Hafeez in the T20 format.

He is sulking being ignored for captaincy after the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) decided to stick with Misbahul Haq for the Test and One-day format while handing Mohammad Hafeez the top slot for the shortest format of the game.

Afridi was a strong candidate to replace Misbah but the PCB went otherwise for long time planning. The Boom-Boom player announced his retirement from Test cricket one match into his comeback in 2010.

He issued a conditional retirement last year in protest of the PCB stripping him of captaincy in One-Day Internationals and Twenty20s.

While speaking to the media Afridi observed, “No doubt leading a national side is a big honor,” Afridi, who has played 342 ODIs and 48 Twenty20s. But I have no complaints and am ready to play for Pakistan under any captain whether it is Misbah, Shoaib Malik or Hafeez. I wish Hafeez the best of luck with his role. I have supported him in crisis before and he will have all my support as the captain again”.

He was of the opinion that these players had played under him and he had no issues playing under them, adding that is aim is to play for his country which is a huge honor.

The legend hitter was of the opinion that he was not desperate for captaincy and he was only concentrating his performance for the Sri Lankan tour. He observed, “I had a bad series against England but I recovered in the Asia Cup. Now I am looking for an improved show and eyeing key contribution for Pakistan”.

The former skipper asserted that he was working hard and never misses his training. Expressing hopes, he said that he will perform well against Sri Lanka. He also endorsed decision of the PCB for announcing separate teams for all formats.

Afridi earned the man-of-the-series award in the ODI series against Sri Lanka in the UAE, which was his first tournament after reversing his conditional retirement.

He also exhibited an all-round match-winning show in Sharjah where he scored a half-century and took five wickets.

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Posted by Faisal Farooq on May 12 2012. Filed under Pakistan, Sports. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.