Big hitting Afridi should be in the Pakistan Test team
Columnist By Kersi Meher-Homji, 28 Jan 2010 Kersi Meher-Homji is a Roar Expert
- Tagged:
- Cricket, ODI, Pakistan cricket, Shahid Afridi, Test cricket
Pakistan's Shahid Afridi makes a run against Australia during the one day international cricket match between Pakistan and Australia in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, Wednesday, April 22, 2009. (AP Photo/Andrew Parsons)
If there is one cricketer who gives Pakistan a whiff of a win, it is Boom-boom Six-o-Maniac, Shahid Afridi. In the first ODI against Australia in Brisbane last Friday, he made a difference in the Pakistan attitude by smacking 48 runs off 26 deliveries, belting 5 fours and 3 sixes, with a strike-rate (SR) of 184.61.
On Sunday in Sydney, he made only 9, but it included a six.
This Tuesday in Adelaide, he hit 40 runs off 29 balls (SR 137.93) with 4 fours and a six. As long as he was batting, Pakistan had a chance to win and keep the series alive at 2-1.
When Afridi bats, can sixes be far behind?
He is among two cricketers to have hit more than 200 sixes in ODIs.
Sri Lanka’s Sanath Jayasuriya tops with 270 in 432 innings at 0.62 sixes per innings (6/i). Afridi has skied 258 sixes in 273 innings at a much superior 6/i rate of 0.94.
That is almost a 6 every ODI innings!
A flamboyant and inconsistent all-rounder, Afridi has an amazing SR of 111.38 in ODIs, which is scoring more than a run off every ball he faced in 291 matches over fourteen years.
This is the highest SR among those who have played more than 30 ODIs.
He has scored the fastest century in ODIs. His hundred against Sri Lanka at Nairobi on 4 October 1996 came off 37 balls and included 11 sixes and 6 fours.
Remarkably, he was only 16 then.
In 291 ODIs, he has scored 5927 runs at 23.24 with four centuries (highest score 109), enriched with 258 sixes and taken 272 wickets at 34.71 (best 6-38 vs. Australia at Dubai last April) and 98 catches.
Jayasuriya is the only other player to achieve the 5000 runs and 250 wickets double (13428 runs and 322 wickets), but he has played 153 more ODIs than Afridi.
Afridi’s best ODI was against England in Lahore on 27 October 2000 when he followed his 5-40 (his skidding quicker deliveries causing havoc) with a match-winning 61 off 69 balls as swarms of flies, attracted by the humidity and floodlights, descended on the ground.
Handsome Afridi’s inconsistency kept him in and out of Test arena, but he remains one of the most spectacular players. He went berserk against India and hit his Test best of 156 (with 6 sixes) off only 128 balls at Faisalabad in January 2006.
In 26 Tests, he has hammered 50 sixes, an astounding rate of 1.92 sixes per Test. Even Adam Gilchrist could not match his six per Test rate – 100 sixes in 96 Tests at 1.04.
Afridi averages 37.40 with the bat (five centuries, highest score 156, and eight 50s) and 34.89 with the ball (best 5-52). His versatile spin bowling has improved in recent years and on occasions he gets drift as well as turn, and – when least expected – he delivers a vicious faster ball.
Pakistan should use him regularly in Test matches as an all-rounder because he can neutralize their negativity with a towering six here and a fastish flipper there. After all, his batting average in Test cricket (37.40) is superior to his batting average in ODIs (23.24).
Expect the unexpected when Shahid Afridi takes on Australia in Perth tomorrow.
Kersi is an author of 13 cricket books including The Waugh Twins, Cricket's Great All-rounders,Six Appeal and Nervous Nineties. He writes regularly for Inside Cricket and other publications. He has recently finished his new book on Cricket's Conflicts and Controversies, with a foreword by Greg Chappell.
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- Explore:
- Cricket, ODI, Pakistan cricket, Shahid Afridi, Test cricket
January 28th 2010 @ 7:14am
Spiro Zavos said | January 28th 2010 @ 7:14am | Report comment
I would go further than Kersi and sugggest that Afridi should captain the Test and ODI sides. One of the main reasons why Pakistan have been so unsuccessful in Australia this season has been the pathetic captaincy of the side. Whenever the team needed to go for the jugular to killl off the Australian the captain has set ultra-defensive fields that have allowed Australia back in the game.
The under-19 side did this, too, in their quarter final against Australia in New Zealand.
Perhaps Kersi can explain the politics or tribal affiliations that somehow prevent Afridi from being given the captaincy, and being kept out of the Test side.
It remains a great puzzle to me, and I presume to most cricket followers around the world.
January 28th 2010 @ 7:34am
Justin said | January 28th 2010 @ 7:34am | Report comment
I must say Afridis stats for Tests are much better than I thought. Why isnt he in the Test side? Its not like their batting is rock solid anyway and he is handy with the ball.
January 28th 2010 @ 8:10am
drewster said | January 28th 2010 @ 8:10am | Report comment
It is hard to put up a case aginst his non inclusion! His stats say he should play as an all rounder. He can also win you a match when he is on his game, Must have upset someone on the selection panel.
January 28th 2010 @ 8:22am
Kersi Meher-Homji said | January 28th 2010 @ 8:22am | Report comment
Sorry, Spiro. I have no knowledge about politics and tribal affiliations in Pakistan. But if the son of poor parents can become the captain of Pakistan, talent is not ignored in Pakistan. I mean Mohammad Yousuf.
Certain players are labelled as Test cricketers and some as limited overs specialists — at times sensibly, at times stupidly. I shall never understand why Michael Slater was hardly picked in ODIs. He would have been an ideal opener in ODIs.
Like Slater, Afridi can shine out in Tests, one-dayers and T20s. IPL not auctioning for Afridi is a political issue. What a loss to the spectators! He is in the same league as Gilly and Sehwag.
But Spiro, I would hesitate to make Afridi the captain of a Test side.
January 28th 2010 @ 8:24am
M1tch said | January 28th 2010 @ 8:24am | Report comment
if he plays he’d have to be a number 7..
he dominated a few years ago with fast 50′s and 100′s but any higher and he is too much of a liability
January 28th 2010 @ 10:33am
Tinnie said | January 28th 2010 @ 10:33am | Report comment
I think for a player that has been around for so long, he at times lacks maturity with the bat in the test match form of the game. I understand the style of batsman he is, but many times he’s thrown his wicket away when his team has needed him to knuckle down and accumulate a decent score.
Especially if people want him to be captain in that form of the game, he needs to step up and lead by example in all areas.
January 28th 2010 @ 11:14am
John said | January 28th 2010 @ 11:14am | Report comment
When Afridi is at his best, he is the most dangerous & dominating batsman of them all. However, consistency has been an issue with him unlike Gilly & Sehwag. Anyways, his test stats are quite impressive for an all-rounder, and the general feeling is that he has improved leaps & bounds as a bowler since the last couple of years. In all likelihood, his bowling stats will be even better if he plays tests now, and it’s as a bowler that he can really add value to the Pak test team. His explosive batting will be the icing on the cake.
Pakistan has barely won any test since Afridi stopped playing test cricket, and it’s not just a mere coincidence. He definitely needs to play in tests, but even I will take it one step further like Spiro, and will like him take over the test captaincy. He may not be the ideal captaincy material, but is clearly the best that Pakistan has got. Pak cricket has hit rock bottom, and a fearless cricketer like Afridi can only help their cause. This Pak team has other talented cricketers, but besides Afridi, every other cricketer in that Pak team seems too willing to be dominated. Irrespective of the format of the game, I get a feeling that Afridi is perhaps the only Pakistani cricketer who the opposition genuinely fears.
January 28th 2010 @ 11:56am
coops said | January 28th 2010 @ 11:56am | Report comment
great article Kersi. I couldn’t agree more. He has the ability to turn a test in an hour or a session. Pakistan are screaming out for a player with this talent, not to mention the vast experience you referred to in your article. His positive attitude is another factor the Pakistan test team are sadly lacking.
January 28th 2010 @ 7:39pm
vinay verma said | January 28th 2010 @ 7:39pm | Report comment
Kersi,while Afridi is a “poster” boy he has had issues with Captains both in Pakistan and the IPL. He has not played a Test since 2006 and the Pak administrators may have doubts about his fitness(physical ) for the longer form.
After the first season of the IPL,when Deccan finished down the bottom Afridi told the press: ” At times Laxman lost the plot on the field” To which Laxman,who was then captian,responded: ” Afridi has no team ethics. Speaking negatively about the team in public is not on” As events transpired no Pak player took part in IPL2 and none are slated for IPL3.
I think Afridi the cricketer finds it hard to live up to the hype around him. He is a talent but whether it benefits the team is debatable. Being shunted around the batting order by the selectors has not helped him in the Test team. I believe in the shorter form he should open because he can take the game away from the opposition. In the longer form his spot should be 7. But he will not be effective unless the Pak middle order gives him the foundation and the freedom to attack.
He is a tremendous bowler over 4 or 10 overs.He is not your stock bowler as he has an attacking mind set. So a captain has to use him in an attacking manner in the Tests. In short concentrated spells. Pakistan cricket is being pulled in conflicting directions. Their CEO is a relic from a different age and Inthikab,the kind generous soul that he is,is not upto date with modern coaching methods.As coach he is responsible for the running between wickets and general out cricket. At the moment their outccricket resembles an outhouse.
January 29th 2010 @ 8:33am
Kersi Meher-Homji said | January 29th 2010 @ 8:33am | Report comment
Vinay,
As I’ve said it the past Afridi symbolises Pak cricket — terrific one day, terrible the next; awesome one day, awful the next. Unfortunately, these days Pakistan have been terrible one day, awful the next (except on the first three days of the recent Sydney Test).
Pakistan cricket needs a spark to light them up in all forms of cricket. Afridi may be just the man, just the spark plug for them to switch on their machine in Test cricket. What do they have to lose? They have the talent but little spirit and no confidence. Afridi can just be the switch to light up the dark, gloomy room.
He is the positive pole in a talented and negative side.