Shahid Afridi announces retirement from international cricket

Shahid Afridi has finally brought down the curtains on his illustrious 20-year career after the Pakistani all-rounder announced that he will no longer play international cricket.

According to a member of the national selection committee, the Afridi, who had a reputation of coming back from retirements, contacted Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) for a farewell match in the upcoming T20I series against the West Indies in the United Arab Emirates.

According to a report published in Express Tribune the former T20 captain and flamboyant all-rounder has finally decided to call it a day and announce retirement. The final decision on his farewell match will be taken by board chairman Shaharyar Khan after he is through with his medical treatment in London.

A few days back Shahid Afridi had said regarding his retirement that he will call it a day when he feels its the right time and won’t be a burden on the side but at the moment he is enjoying his cricket and he has no plans about a potential retirement from the game altogether.

Afridi represented Pakistan in 98 T20Is, claiming 97 wickets and scoring 1405 runs at an average of over 18. He captained the national team in 43 matches in the shortest format of the game, winning 19 and losing 23.

The news comes as a shocker as it was only a couple of days ago that he had said that he had no plans to retire anytime time soon and was focusing on domestic and county cricket.

“I am currently focusing on performing in domestic and county cricket,” he said. “However, when I feel I cannot play anymore, I will retire on my own terms rather than allowing anyone to throw me out.”

The 36-year-old also criticized the media for labeling cricketers on the basis of just one good or bad performance.

“Our media makes a hero out of a player on the basis of just one performance and at times they pull down a senior player with 20+ years of experience after one match or one series,” he said.

Afridi retired from ODI cricket after World Cup last year but continued playing T20Is as the skipper of the team. However, he resigned from the captaincy after debacles in the Asia Cup T20 and World T20 tournaments.