Shahid Afridi is likely to be retained as the one-day captain for the ICC World Cup 2011 after Chairman of the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) Ejaz Butt held discussions with the team management in New Zealand and chief operating officer in Lahore.

According to a well-informed source in the board, all indications show that allrounder Afridi is likely to lead the side during the mega-event staring from February 19 to be held jointly by India, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh.

The source told PTI that Butt held a half an hour discussion with chief operating officer today after his talks with the team management in New Zealand.

Butt himself is not in favour of having Afridi as captain and is more inclined towards Misbah-ul-Haq. Even Younis Khan wants Misbah as the skipper. But after getting all the feedbacks and suggestions the PCB chief knows that it would be a risky move to change the ODI captain at this stage and it would be better to continue with Afridi, the source disclosed.
...

Pakistan Cricket Board chairman Ijaz Butt held a lengthy meeting with Shahid Afridi to pick the World Cup squad.
afridi later told reporters that it had been a very good meeting.
Such a meeting was due and a lot of positives came out of it. The chairman was briefed on everything and he was very receptive to what I had to say on different issues, he said.
The skipper made it clear that he had no intentions of stepping down despite criticism from some quarters on his leadership.
I don t know exactly what anyone is saying but I try to learn if some great players like Wasim Akram or Imran Khan speak, Afridi said.
But everyone has to realise that the present team is very different from the one we had in the 90s when we won the World Cup. Today things are different and the situation is different and we have had to manage in difficult circumstances in the last one year, he added.
He said that Pakistan has the ability to do well in the World Cup and in the coming ODI series in...

Karachi: The Pakistan Cricket Board should stop relying on India or any other Asian nation for support and become self reliant in solving its problems, says the national team's ODI and Twenty20 skipper Shahid Afridi.

Asked about the continued absence of the Pakistani national Twenty20 champions from the lucrative Champions League, the second edition of which concluded last week in Johannesburg, Afridi said India has never been supportive of Pakistan cricket.


Leave alone the Champions League, tell me when has India ever supported Pakistan cricket? Afridi told 'Geo Channel'.

The truth is we have always been there to support India, Sri Lanka or Bangladesh but when time came for them to support us, they left us isolated.

The truth is it is time we realised that not only India or Sri Lanka, Pakistan does not have many...

CARDIFF: Pakistan one-day captain Shahid Afridi said his side had to see the back of Eoin Morgan here on Tuesday if they were to level their two-match series against World Twenty20 champions England.

Pakistan lost the first Twenty20 international by five wickets after being held to just 126 at Cardiff's Sophia Gardens ground here on Sunday.

But England collapsed from 42 for one to 62 for five, with leg-spinning all-rounder Afridi taking two wickets.

Pakistan should have had a sixth wicket when Morgan, on 13, reverse-swept Afridi only for Shoaib Akhtar to drop the simple chance at short third man.

Former Ireland left-hander Morgan went on to make 38 not out and shared a stand of 67 with Michael Yardy, unbeaten on 35, that saw England to victory with 17 balls to spare.

Afridi, speaking to reporters here on Monday, said Morgan was the main man in England's batting order in the absence of the dropped Kevin Pietersen.
...

LONDON: Former Pakistan Test captain Shahid Afridi vowed to return to England on Sunday, saying the limited over series starting next month will be the launch pad for his ambitions to win the 2011 World Cup.

The 30-year-old announced he would retire from Test cricket after the second and final Test against Australia at Leeds starting Wednesday, citing a lack of temperament for the five-day game.

His announcement came minutes after he led Pakistan to a 150-run defeat against Australia in the first Test on Friday, where Afridi slogged 31 in the first innings and hold out for two in the second.

But a side strain meant the batsman was ruled out of the second Test and he was released from the Pakistan squad which, after the Australia series, will stay on to play four Tests against England.

However, Afridi - who led Pakistan to the 2009 World Twenty20 title - is determined to return for the subsequent limited over series against England.
...

LONDON: Salman Butt will take over the Pakistan captaincy from Shahid Afridi for next week's second and final Test against Australia at Headingley, tour manager Yawar Saeed said here on Saturday.

He also confirmed Afridi, who has been struggling with a side strain, had been released from the Test squad and so would not play at Headingley, the Leeds headquarters of county side Yorkshire, where the Australia finale starts on Wednesday.

Saeed added Butt, currently the vice-captain, would also lead Pakistan in their subsequent four Test series against England, starting at Trent Bridge on July 29.

Afridi announced he would be retiring from Test cricket following the Australia finale after leading Pakistan to a 150-run defeat by Australia in the series opener at Lord's here on Friday.

That was Afridi's first Test in four years and it now appears his latest farewell to the five-day format has taken place at Lord's, not Headingley.
...

England captain Andrew Strauss has admitted his shock at Shahid Afridi's decision to step down as Pakistan Test skipper after one match at the helm.

Afridi ended a four-year exile from Test cricket to lead Pakistan in their 150-run loss to Australia last week.

But he quit immediately following that match, with Salman Butt named as his successor for the series against England, which starts later this month.

I was surprised. It will put a strain on the Pakistan team, said Strauss.
It happened so suddenly and it seems strange to be made captain and then to resign after one Test match.

But he has got his reasons for it and if he does not feel that he is worth his place in the side or he is not enjoying the format, then the worst thing you can do is continue to captain when your heart is not in it.
...

KARACHI: Pakistan’s legendary former captain Imran Khan spoke out in support of Shahid Afridi on Friday, saying the all-rounder should be given a long innings to stabilise a team hit by controversy.

“Afridi should be given a long run as Pakistan captain,” Khan told AFP, saying that frequent rotations at the top destablise the team.

“Since I retired in 1992, Australia has had only three captains while Pakistan has had more than two dozen and that is why there is a big difference between Pakistan and Australia.”

Facing a captaincy crisis after Younis Khan stepped down and Mohammad Yousuf was sacked, Pakistan on Tuesday appointed Afridi captain for next month’s Asia Cup and a subsequent tour of England.

Khan said Afridi, already leading Pakistan in the Twenty20 format since last year, was the only real...

Former Pakistan greats expressed their mixed reaction over the appointment of the Shahid Afridi as captain. Most of the former players deem his appointment is not a big surprise as Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) was helpless because board had no other option but lashed out his ability for the Test cricket as a player.

“I wonder, when a player – who never was interested in Test cricket and also claimed that he won't change is playing style according to the particular format - then how could board rely on such player to lead the side,” said Zaheer Abbas, the dashing batsman from the 1980s. “By appointing him captain I think Pakistan cricket has been pushed back some five years.”

“Pakistan Cricket Board should work for the future instead of going down to decline,” said Abbas. The PCB has taken its decision without the calculation, that a player – who was out of Test...

Shahid Afridi, Pakistan's captain for the Asia Cup and the tour of England, has stepped up efforts to convince Mohammad Yousuf to come out of retirement and bolster the side's potentially tough Test assignment in England, where they face off against the hosts and Australia.
I've talked to Yousuf and I've also talked to a few elders, who can influence him to come out of retirement for the sake of Pakistan, Afridi told the News. I am sure that he would listen to them and change his mind about retiring from international cricket. We will certainly need his services in England.
Yousuf announced his retirement from the game following the ban issued by the PCB after Pakistan's unsuccessful tour of Australia. Of the seven punished players, he was the only one to not file a formal appeal against the punishments imposed. On Tuesday, Pakistan announced the 35-member list of...

A leaked video of Pakistan Cricket Board’s inquiry committee proceedings revealed that banned former captain, Shoaib Malik was seen as a bad influence on the team, according to the Press Trust of India.
Senior players like Shahid Afridi and Mohammad Yousuf thought Malik had a “negative character”. Other officials and players, including Malik himself, have comments on record which make it clear that Malik is the most unpopular player in the team.

Malik recently married Indian tennis star, Sania Mirza and is serving a one year ban for indiscipline.

“He is a negative person and he creates problems. I wanted him to be sent back home,” former coach Inthikhab Alam said.

Former assistant coach Aaqib Javed insisted that Malik was not the only one creating problems for the team.

They also talked about how Malik faked an injury and did not play in Queenstown at the beginning of...

SHAHID Afridi is Pathan by blood, is a strong hitter of the ball, has an aggressive batting style and surely is one of the most dangerous players in the history of Pakistan cricket. Shahid Khan Afridi was born on 1st March 1980 in Khyber Agency of the Federally Administered Tribal Areas. He is the first from the Afridi caste to play first class cricket. In essence, he represents the tribes as well.


The right-handed batsman made his ODI debut on October 2, 1996 and hammered the ODIs history’s 37 balls fastest sensational century versus Sri Lanka in his maiden innings. He also holds the record for scoring 32 runs in a single over, which is the second highest score in an over in ODI history.



His attack oriented batting style inspires the mood of cricket lovers contrary to the fact that he was introduced as a leg spinner bowler. The world-class batsman has the ability to change the tempo...

Pakistan’s Twenty20 captain Shahid Afridi on Thursday urged the authorities to take ‘decisive action’ over allegations of match-fixing so that his team can focus on a series of important assignments including next year’s World Cup.

Afridi told ‘The News’ that there is too much uncertainty within Pakistan cricket because of claims that some of the national team players could have been involved in match-fixing even in the recent past.

He believes that such a scenario could prove to be fatal for Pakistan’s chances of regaining the World Cup unless swift measures are taken to resolve the issue.

“The thing is that there is too much uncertainty because of all those allegations regarding match-fixing,” said the experienced allrounder, who is widely seen as the man who could be leading Pakistan in the 2011 World Cup to be hosted jointly by Bangladesh, India and Sri Lanka in February-March.

“It’s really damaging for the players and the team and I’m really concerned because it comes...

KARACHI: When the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) announced strict penalties against some of the countryís leading players after a disastrous tour of Australia last February, it thought it had buried the issue by taking drastic action against the players.

But more than three months after the tour ended, the controversy refuses to die down. On Monday night, Geo News ran exclusive footage of the proceedings of a PCB inquiry in the Australia tour disaster in which some of the coaches and players are seen making serious allegations against some of their teammates.

Former captain Shoaib Malik seems to be at the centre of most of the criticism as he has been portrayed as a villain by Mohammad Yousuf — Pakistan’s captain during the tour of Australia — and Shahid Afridi.

Yousuf and Afridi can be seen telling the PCB probe panel that Malik was a “negative character and a bad influence” on the Pakistan cricket team.

...

KARACHI: Shahid Afridi has always been an ambitious man and now at 30 and in his final years as an international cricketer, the flamboyant all-rounder has made it his mission to help Pakistan overcome what he describes as their ‘mental hang up’ when it comes to playing against Australia.

Over the years, Pakistan have become Australia’s favourite bunnies, having failed to record any worthwhile results against the mighty Aussies. On their last tour to Australia which concluded last February, Pakistan suffered a humiliating whitewash at the hands of Ricky Ponting’s men and lost all their tour matches.

More recently, Pakistan came agonisingly close to breaking the Australian jinx before falling to their nemesis in the World Twenty20 semifinal in St Lucia last week.

Afridi, Pakistan’s Twenty20 captain, told ‘The News’ in an interview here on Wednesday that the narrow defeat almost broke his heart.

“I would have been left completely shattered but what gave me hope was the fact that we played...