New Delhi:
Pakistan’s dashing all-rounder Shahid Afridi has been given an indirect hint by the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) to call it quits to his international career.
The board is expected to give the enigmatic all-rounder Shahid Afridi a chance to officially announce his retirement from international cricket during the Twenty20 series against West Indies in the UAE later this month.
Meanwhile the Karachi Pathan who has served Pakistan cricket with distinction for almost two decades has no plans to retire immediately. The hard hitting all-rounder feels that he still has a lot to offer to Pakistani cricket. According to a report in the 'Daily Jang', the PCB wants to Afridi to retire on his own after being ignored for the lone T20 international against England and last week.
"Apparently the board and national selectors don't agree and feel that Afridi should retire gracefully although he can continue to play in foreign leagues and domestic cricket," one PCB source said.
The source said after the T20 series against the West Indies, Pakistan will not be playing another T20 international until next April so they want to reach a conclusion with Afridi for the coming series. "The plan is to talk to Afridi and explain to him that since the selectors are now building a new T20 squad for the next World T20 there is no place for him. He will be offered the chance to be included in the Pakistan squad for the T20 series against the West Indies as 16th player and play in the matches," the source said.
"The PCB also wants to organize a grand farewell for him in Dubai during the T20 series for which the selectors have already announced a 15-member squad," he added. Afridi, 36, stepped down as captain after the World T20 in India in which Pakistan failed to reach the semi-finals last April and since than has been ignored by the selectors.
Afridi who had retired from Test cricket in 2010 while leading the team in England and also retired from ODIs after the last World Cup in Australia and New Zealand, currently only plays in the shortest format of the game. Pakistan will play the T20 internationals against the Windies on September, 23, 24 and 27.
If the upcoming West Indies series turns out to be his last hurray in international cricket, the cricketing fraternity shall surely be devoid of the sheer entertainment ‘Boom Boom’ provided with his brutal stroke play.
