No IPL, no problem!

KARACHI: Shahid Afridi is widely regarded as the most destructive Twenty20 player, having proved his class in back-to-back ICC World Twenty20 championships in South Africa (2007) and England (2009).

But the 29-year-old all-rounder will be missing the world’s most lucrative Twenty20 spectacle — the Indian Premier League (IPL) — for the second consecutive year along with his other Pakistan teammates.

It’s not that Afridi or other leading Pakistani cricketers are not good enough for the IPL because several of the league’s franchises were interested in them. It’s just that they’ve become victims of the strained Pakistan-India relations.

Is Afridi disappointed after learning that he won’t be featuring in the IPL? “Not really,” he told ‘The News’ in an interview on Tuesday. “I mean it would have been good to make our IPL comeback next year but it is now clear that we won’t be able to do that. It’s like we can’t do anything about it,” he said.

Afridi, who is Pakistan Twenty20 captain, sees Pakistan’s omission from the IPL as a blessing in disguise as it will allow him and his teammates to completely focus on the preparations for the 2010 World Twenty20 in the West Indies.

The next season of the IPL will precede the World Twenty20 to be held next May when Pakistan will be defending their world title. “Now that it has been decided that we are not playing (in the IPL) we will have a perfect window to hold a proper camp and get ready for the Twenty20 World Cup,” said Afridi, who was Pakistan’s biggest star in their successful World Twenty20 campaign in England last June.

Afridi is looking at the bright side of things but in the meantime he is also aware that he and other Pakistani players have been deprived of a chance to feature in what is one of world cricket’s most glamorous events.

He believes that the Indian cricket authorities fell short of doing their bit to confirm the participation of Pakistani players in the Twenty20 league. “I think Pakistan have always been supportive of Indian cricket in the past which is why I was expecting them (India) to be more positive towards us,” he said.

“But it seems that’s not the case. I personally believe that sports promote harmony and it would have been good for both Pakistan and India if our players would have been allowed to play in the IPL.

“I think the absence of our cricketers will not be good for cricket or the IPL,” he stressed. Afridi, who played for Deccan Chargers in the inaugural IPL last year, was approached by 2008 champions Rajashthan Royals for the next season.

Other Pakistani players who were looking forward to featuring in the competition include Sohail Tanvir, Abdul Razzaq, Kamran Akmal, Umar Gul and Misbah-ul-Haq. Several other of their teammates were also approached by different franchises, who were eager to have members of the team that won the World Twenty20 title less than six months back playing for them in the IPL.

On Monday, IPL chairman Lalit Modi ruled out the participation of Pakistani players in the third IPL edition beginning in March next year due to an ongoing delay in obtaining visas for the event.

The Pakistan Cricket Board was keen on its players participating in the third edition in India next year and, although the government has this time cleared the team to participate, the players have not yet been furnished with visas.

IPL chairman Lalit Modi, who had last month extended the deadline to December 7 for Pakistan’s players to get clearances in order, said the league could not permit more extensions.

The Pakistan government barred its players from travelling to India for the second edition of the IPL this year and they stayed at home even after the Twenty20 tournament was shifted to South Africa.

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Afridi: I told all problems to Younus

Shahid Afridi has said that some players had grievances against Younus and he himself acted as a bridge to resolve the matter.

After Pakistan Cricket Board rejected Younus' resignation and retained him as captain till 2011 World Cup, there were reports that one of the reasons for his shunning the job was attitude of some players including Afridi.

"Some guys in the team have problems with Younus Khan and as they are hesitant to talk to him directly they approached me to convey their problems to him," Afridi said without elaborating what the issues were.

Afridi said the players had approached him since they wanted a solution to all the problems.

"I told Younus about the issues conveyed by these players but I personally think it is better if the players talk to the captain directly and sort out the issues they have with him personally," Afridi told Geo Super Channel last night.

But the flamboyant all-rounder insisted that he had no personal issues with Younus and had always supported him as captain.

"I also believe every player should support Younis and I will always keep on backing him in any circumstances."

He also said that since he was vice-captain of the team he played his role in trying to improve communication between players and keeping the younger players closer to each other.

Afridi insisted that he had never run after the captaincy and felt comfortable playing under Younus.

"Captaincy is a big responsibility and I think Younus should continue till the 2011 World Cup," Afridi said.

Afridi also welcomed Younus' statement that he was thinking of making a comeback to Twenty20 cricket.

"If Younus wants to play in T20s again, he is most welcome and he can even take the captaincy from me. But like everyone else he will have to perform for his place in T20 cricket," he said.

The experienced all-rounder made it clear that whenever he and Younus have met their main discussion centered around how to bring about more improvement to the national team.

Afridi also talked about his decision to not play Test cricket until the next World Cup insisting that he was earlier interested in this but gave up after the selectors kept on sidelining him for Test matches.

"Now I am focusing on one-day and T20 cricket but that does not mean that if I get a chance to play Test cricket I will ignore it," he said.

Meanwhile, Pakistan captain Younus Khan today adjured his teammates to discuss fearlessly any issue with him and insisted he was not responsible for any communication gap.

"I personally think that players should have the courage to fight for their rights and discuss their issues openly with the captain and management," Younus said.

Younus refused to agree that he was responsible for the communication gap in the team that has been highlighted a great deal by Afridi in recent days.

"I don't think I am responsible for this if there is any communication gap between the players it is because of the weak team management," he said.

The Pakistan cricket Board has changed the management of the national team for the coming series against New Zealand by dropping manager Yawar Saeed and his assistant Shafqat Rana whom Younus has blamed for the problems in the team.

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Afridi wants a break from Test cricket

Shahid Afridi has told Pakistani selectors not to consider him for Test matches until next year's cricket World Cup.

"There is a lot of international cricket being played these days and I think it is better if I focus on these two forms of the game in the period leading up to the World Cup," Afridi said.

Afridi, who last played a Test in July, 2006 in England, said the next two years were very important for Pakistan cricket with the T20 and 50-over World Cups lined up.

"I would love to see our team winning both competitions and I feel we have the potential to do this," the spin all- rounder told the 'Jung' newspaper.

Afridi said not playing Test matches would help him stay fresh for the T20 and ODI matches. He has played 285 ODIs compared to just 26 Tests in his career which began in 1997.

The national selectors have already omitted him from the Test squad announced for the upcoming tour of New Zealand and named him captain of the T20 side until the next T20 World Cup in the West Indies.

He also dismissed reports of differences with captain Younus Khan.

"Both of us go a long way and we respect each other. I have always supported him as player and captain and I will continue to do that in future as well," he said.

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Afridi joins South Australia for Twenty20

South Australia have signed Shahid Afridi for the Twenty20 Big Bash this summer as a replacement for the spinner Ajantha Mendis. The Redbacks had announced the recruitment of Mendis in July but he is now unavailable due to Sri Lanka's planned tri-series with India and Bangladesh in January.

South Australia's Big Bash campaign begins on December 29, when Pakistan will be involved in the Boxing Day Test in Melbourne. However, Afridi has not played Test cricket since 2006 and is not expected to feature in their Test squad, which would leave him free to take part in the full Twenty20 competition.

"We narrowly missed out on finals last season and these signings are definitely a boost to our quest to qualify for the Champions League this year," South Australia's high performance manager Jamie Cox said. "I have made no secret of the fact that I view the Big Bash competition as the most commercial on the domestic calendar and the inaugural Champions' League also provides fantastic opportunities for young players to showcase their skills on the world stage."

Afridi should be a valuable Twenty20 asset for South Australia; he was the player of the tournament at the 2007 ICC World Twenty20 and averages 21.05 with the bat and 15.73 with the ball from his 24 Twenty20 internationals. Other international signings for the Big Bash include Chris Gayle (Western Australia) and Dwayne Bravo (Victoria).

Lasith Malinga was to join Tasmania and Victoria had attracted Muttiah Muralitharan but both men are likely to be unavailable for the same reason as Mendis. The West Indies allrounder Kieron Pollard is on New South Wales' radar and the states have until Christmas Eve to confirm up to two international recruits.

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India would be under more pressure

Shahid Afridi feels there would be extra pressure on India in the ICC Champions Trophy.

Afridi reckons that in the high-voltage India-Pakistan match during the ICC Champions Trophy, India would be under more presssure because of their poor show at T20 World Cup.

Afridi, the new vice captain of Pakistan, said the match scheduled for September 26 would be a crunch game for both teams.

"It will be a pressure game for both sides. But I think more so for India as they are searching for a big win after not doing well in the T20 World Cup," Afridi stated.
Afridi said that Pakistan could repeat their Twenty20 World Cup success in the Champions Trophy but for that to happen his teammates will have to put up consistent show.

"The thing is all of us need to be more consistent in our performances. We need to develop this winning mentality and habit. It is not enough to do well in one tournament or series and disappoint in the next," Afridi who replaced Misbah-ul-Haq as vice caption, said.

"We are not even thinking about the Champions Trophy semi-finals because we are in a tough group and every match is crucial for us.

"We can't even take the West Indies lightly because they can also upset anyone despite being without their top players," he added.

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Afridi Helps Pakistan to enter final

The South African juggernaut was brought to a screeching halt by Shahid Afridi who, with a little help from his team-mates, dumped tournament favourites out of the World Twenty20 and secured Pakistan's place in the final. Afridi put in an all-round performance of tremendous intensity, lifting Pakistan to a defendable total with an aggressive yet methodical half-century, before bowling a spell that left the South Africans winded at Trent Bridge.

The clinical South African side, who were unbeaten in the competition, were favourites going in to the semi-final and their bowlers fought admirably to restrict Pakistan to 149 when at one stage a total of 170 seemed on the cards. With the exception of Jacques Kallis, though, their batsmen failed to give the chase any sort of direction. They were suffocated by Afridi and Saeed Ajmal and their inability to score enough runs during the initial and middle overs left them with far too much to do against the pinpoint accuracy of Umar Gul's yorkers.

Each time Pakistan's batsmen accelerated and threatened to set a formidable target, South Africa's bowlers pulled the game back, a contest that made for riveting viewing at Trent Bridge. Kamran Akmal and Shahid Afridi played aggressively but South Africa's bowlers recovered ground by restricting the run-rate after their dismissals. The eventual total of 149 was one that Graeme Smith will be happy with, while Pakistan will feel they could have got a few more.

The game followed a strangely symmetric pattern. Pakistan dominated the first five overs, scoring 43, while South Africa fought back between overs five and ten to keep Pakistan to 68 for 2. Pakistan once again controlled the game between overs 11 and 15, reaching 120 for 3, but South Africa conceded only 29 off the last five overs.

Pakistan's early dominance was due to Akmal, who was intent on smashing the ball from the start. He cut Dale Steyn twice for four in the first over and lofted him cleanly over long-off in the third. In between, he crashed Wayne Parnell to the midwicket boundary and raced to 23 off 11 balls before top-edging a pull off Steyn to mid-on.

Pakistan had raced to 47 for 2 after six overs, with Afridi pulling Jacques Kallis twice through midwicket but South Africa then cut off the boundary supply. Afridi and Shoaib Malik didn't hit a boundary for 30 balls before Afridi slogged Roelof van der Merwe through midwicket. He moved on to cut loose against Johan Botha, making room to loft the offspinner thrice in a row to the cover boundary before unveiling a delectable late-cut to snatch 18 off the over. The 50-partnership had come up off 49 balls but Pakistan had begun to accelerate, with Afridi placing the ball into gaps consistently, plucking twos.

South Africa desperately needed Afridi's wicket and it was given to them by JP Duminy, who struck with his first ball. Afridi tried to slog sweep and skied the ball straight to AB de Villiers at midwicket who took a vital catch with ease. South Africa celebrated the wicket with more relief than joy.

Malik had played a more subdued, anchoring role until then, but began to step up, scoring his first boundary - a sweep off van der Merwe - off his 31st ball. He soon added another, hitting Duminy over extra cover, but eventually holed out to long-off.

Younis and Abdul Razzaq were two new batsmen at the crease and Parnell and Steyn bowled with extreme accuracy to deny them loose deliveries at the death. They could only pick off ones and twos and had to settle for 149, when 170 looked gettable at one stage.

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