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Afridi as a test match option?
- Thread starter Xuhaib
- Start date
AaronK
State Regular
I haven't been impress with Kaneria as of late.. he would ball 4 decent deliveries and 2 bad once like every over.. i mean against decent batsmans who wait for the bad deliveries and pick their spots..he gets trashed.. i don't mind seeing afridi in the test side..
i am also interested to see if Saeed Ajmal would be given a chance at the test level..
i am also interested to see if Saeed Ajmal would be given a chance at the test level..
Noble One
International Vice-Captain
Spot on. Ajmal will be the one to replace Kaneria if he is dropped.
Need to see more of Kaneria to judge how he is going. Played something like two tests the past two years. Very much unfairly maligned cricketer, the only stable bowling option in the Pakistan team for about the past five/six years. At 28 years of age is not even nearing what many consider the peak of a spin bowlers career.
vic_orthdox
Global Moderator
That ball to get Gibbs, after the ball before gripped so much, was an absolute ripper. Favourite ball of the tournament.
Richard
Cricket Web Staff Member
Yeah, Afridi's Test batting average is essentially worthless. If he'd played every Test from debut to Pakistan's most recent he'd struggle to average 25.
Sanz
Hall of Fame Member
And what mathematical formula was used to derive that conclusion ?
nightprowler10
Global Moderator
Yeah not sure how you can make a statement like that Dicko. Not that I like defending him or anything but surely if he played every Test from debut till now, there's as much a chance he may have matured faster as a batsman.
Howsie
International Captain
He should be ahead of Kaneria now shouldn't he?
I've really been impressed with his bowling over the last few months. And that quicker ball he has could come in handy at the end of a long day. Some batsmen after batting for 40-50 overs could get done by it.
I've really been impressed with his bowling over the last few months. And that quicker ball he has could come in handy at the end of a long day. Some batsmen after batting for 40-50 overs could get done by it.
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Richard
Cricket Web Staff Member
Nah. Nothing in hell or high water was ever going to make him mature as a batsman, and if he'd played regularly rather than playing mostly when conditions were overwhelmingly in his favour (and being dropped promptly when they weren't for the knowledge of how embarrassing he'd make the side look if retained for long) then his average would be paltry. He just isn't good enough for anything else to be the case.
Sanz
Hall of Fame Member
Afridi is a good enough batsman to succeed in any form of game. Some of the Test Match innings he played against India very early in his career showed what he was capable of as a Test batsman.
1st Test: India v Pakistan at Chennai, Jan 28-31, 1999 | Cricket Scorecard | Cricinfo.com 141 in Chennai Test, Highest scorere in that test match.
2nd Test: India v Pakistan at Delhi, Feb 4-7, 1999 | Cricket Scorecard | Cricinfo.com - Same series he added 100 Runs with Anwar on a Kotla minefiled before given out incorrectly.
Those innings at that early in your career against arch rivals does show that he has what it takes to succeed and do well. For some reason, somewhere his role changed to mindless whacking of every ball and that harmed him in more ways than anything else did.
1st Test: India v Pakistan at Chennai, Jan 28-31, 1999 | Cricket Scorecard | Cricinfo.com 141 in Chennai Test, Highest scorere in that test match.
2nd Test: India v Pakistan at Delhi, Feb 4-7, 1999 | Cricket Scorecard | Cricinfo.com - Same series he added 100 Runs with Anwar on a Kotla minefiled before given out incorrectly.
Those innings at that early in your career against arch rivals does show that he has what it takes to succeed and do well. For some reason, somewhere his role changed to mindless whacking of every ball and that harmed him in more ways than anything else did.
Richard
Cricket Web Staff Member
This change happened in about early-ish 2002 and has never shown the slightest sign of being reversed. Even before it he was never particularly good, merely less dreadful than he has been since 2002.
Instead of maturing, Afridi went backwards, and it wasn't gradual - it was instantaneous and irreversable.
Instead of maturing, Afridi went backwards, and it wasn't gradual - it was instantaneous and irreversable.
Fusion
Global Moderator
That’s rather harsh. I doubt you watched the Twenty20 WC based on your signature, but Afridi did show signs of maturing as a batsman. Granted it’s only Twenty20, but if he can improve in one format, there’s no reason to doubt that he can’t apply himself in others. Certainly he’s shown that he’s got the talent to do it. And this is coming from one of his harshest critics btw.
Sanz
Hall of Fame Member
Not what you said earlier esp when you made a bold statement like
"....playing mostly when conditions were overwhelmingly in his favour (and being dropped promptly when they weren't for the knowledge of how embarrassing he'd make the side look if retained for long)...."
Well those test matches in India show just the opposite.
2 good innings does not show he is maturing as a batsman! Over the past two years his batting has been dreadful and he admitted himself he shuts his eyes and swings as hard as possible (hardly a mature outlook for a professional cricketer).
He is a very intelligent bowler and can bat a bit therefore a number 8 in testmatch cricket could work for him.
Although his game has been and always will be suited to the shorter stuff!
Xuhaib
International Coach
Michael Jeh
Cricinfo Blog
June 25, 2009
Just when I thought it was safe to assume that Shahid Afridi’s career as a genuine all-rounder was well and truly extinguished, he finds a maturity in his game that I was convinced he did not possess. Perhaps now, nigh on ten years after his stunning entry into the international game in Nairobi, we might yet see the sort of cricketer his talent always promised. If his last two Twenty20 innings is any indication of the new Afridi, strap yourselves in. This could be a wild ride!
The great irony of the Twenty20 triumph is that it now offers Afridi no more excuses for wasting his batting talents. For too long, he has taken refuge under the convenient umbrella of being classified, perhaps wrongly, of being a one-dimensional slogger. It has been an excuse that he has probably been only too happy to use because it afforded him immunity from those who tried to convince him that he was selling himself short by trying to slog every ball out of the ground. No more excuses Mr Afridi. We all know now that you’ve got the class, the patience and the shot selection to play much more meaningful innings than the brief cameos that you’ve become all-too-famous for.
His bowling has improved out of sight but that’s always been a steady part of his game. He rarely bowls that astonishingly quicker delivery that is through the batsman before he is on his downswing but is more consistent even without that variety. I remember Greg Blewett being completely dumbfounded by his Exocet missile in an ODI in Australia early in Afridi’s career but I can’t remember his googly being anywhere near as effective as in the last few months. In tandem with Ajmal, those middle overs now belong to Pakistan again, something they’ve missed since Saqlain Mushtaq finished up.
It’s Afridi’s batting though that interests me. What the Twenty20 championship has proved to everybody, perhaps even to Afridi himself, is that he is doing himself a massive disservice if he continues to swing like a barn door at every ball he faces. He showed us that he has delicate touch shots like the sweep and the punch down to long-on to take the single that’s on offer when the ball is not in the slot. His power has never been questioned so the boundary shots are always threatening but now that he has discovered the art of subtlety, he’s virtually impossible to bowl to. If only someone could convince him that the longer he’s at the crease, the more runs he’ll score. It’s hardly rocket science but it doesn’t seem to have registered with Afridi. Yet.
Pakistan need to do him a favour though and allow him to bat in the top order when the fielding restrictions are still in. It allows him to get away with the odd mis-hit and also allows him to score quickly with fewer risks, thereby calming the beast within. Once he’s over that initial 20 ball period, he tends to settle in and bat with a bit more commonsense (by his standards anyway!). It’s just a matter of giving him every chance to survive those early moments when his brain is running faster than the game situation dictates. Let’s face it – a fielder on the boundary has never stopped Afridi from taking him on anyway so why not send him in early when there are less fielders in the outfield.
Admittedly, he sometimes struggles against the moving ball and the shorter one directed at his ribs but then again, who doesn’t? Now that he has found a new lease of life, perhaps he will eschew that ridiculous pull/hook/hoick off the front foot and deal with the short one by backing away and slashing over point. That forces them to pitch it up and we all know what’s going to happen next.
It’s easy to forget how young Afridi still is. It feels like he’s been around forever, thrilling and disappointing us in unequal measure. It’s time now for the Grown-up Shahid Afridi to take us on the ride that he’s been promising for so long. Consistency and Fireworks are not necessarily mutually exclusive bedfellows. He’s proved that in two brilliant knocks when it mattered most in the Twenty20 Championship. Wild Child meets Self Belief – what an explosive combination. This kid could be anything.
Cricinfo Blog
June 25, 2009
Just when I thought it was safe to assume that Shahid Afridi’s career as a genuine all-rounder was well and truly extinguished, he finds a maturity in his game that I was convinced he did not possess. Perhaps now, nigh on ten years after his stunning entry into the international game in Nairobi, we might yet see the sort of cricketer his talent always promised. If his last two Twenty20 innings is any indication of the new Afridi, strap yourselves in. This could be a wild ride!
The great irony of the Twenty20 triumph is that it now offers Afridi no more excuses for wasting his batting talents. For too long, he has taken refuge under the convenient umbrella of being classified, perhaps wrongly, of being a one-dimensional slogger. It has been an excuse that he has probably been only too happy to use because it afforded him immunity from those who tried to convince him that he was selling himself short by trying to slog every ball out of the ground. No more excuses Mr Afridi. We all know now that you’ve got the class, the patience and the shot selection to play much more meaningful innings than the brief cameos that you’ve become all-too-famous for.
His bowling has improved out of sight but that’s always been a steady part of his game. He rarely bowls that astonishingly quicker delivery that is through the batsman before he is on his downswing but is more consistent even without that variety. I remember Greg Blewett being completely dumbfounded by his Exocet missile in an ODI in Australia early in Afridi’s career but I can’t remember his googly being anywhere near as effective as in the last few months. In tandem with Ajmal, those middle overs now belong to Pakistan again, something they’ve missed since Saqlain Mushtaq finished up.
It’s Afridi’s batting though that interests me. What the Twenty20 championship has proved to everybody, perhaps even to Afridi himself, is that he is doing himself a massive disservice if he continues to swing like a barn door at every ball he faces. He showed us that he has delicate touch shots like the sweep and the punch down to long-on to take the single that’s on offer when the ball is not in the slot. His power has never been questioned so the boundary shots are always threatening but now that he has discovered the art of subtlety, he’s virtually impossible to bowl to. If only someone could convince him that the longer he’s at the crease, the more runs he’ll score. It’s hardly rocket science but it doesn’t seem to have registered with Afridi. Yet.
Pakistan need to do him a favour though and allow him to bat in the top order when the fielding restrictions are still in. It allows him to get away with the odd mis-hit and also allows him to score quickly with fewer risks, thereby calming the beast within. Once he’s over that initial 20 ball period, he tends to settle in and bat with a bit more commonsense (by his standards anyway!). It’s just a matter of giving him every chance to survive those early moments when his brain is running faster than the game situation dictates. Let’s face it – a fielder on the boundary has never stopped Afridi from taking him on anyway so why not send him in early when there are less fielders in the outfield.
Admittedly, he sometimes struggles against the moving ball and the shorter one directed at his ribs but then again, who doesn’t? Now that he has found a new lease of life, perhaps he will eschew that ridiculous pull/hook/hoick off the front foot and deal with the short one by backing away and slashing over point. That forces them to pitch it up and we all know what’s going to happen next.
It’s easy to forget how young Afridi still is. It feels like he’s been around forever, thrilling and disappointing us in unequal measure. It’s time now for the Grown-up Shahid Afridi to take us on the ride that he’s been promising for so long. Consistency and Fireworks are not necessarily mutually exclusive bedfellows. He’s proved that in two brilliant knocks when it mattered most in the Twenty20 Championship. Wild Child meets Self Belief – what an explosive combination. This kid could be anything.