Cricket Makes You Cry More Than It Makes You Laugh: Shahid Afridi

Apr 12, 2017 at 4:52 PM

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Cricket Makes You Cry More Than It Makes You Laugh: Shahid Afridi

Former Pakistan skipper and hard-hitting sensation in his recent interview to International Cricket Council’s 360 programme remarked current Pakistan limited-overs Captain Sarfraz Ahmed is an aggressive player that the country would like to have for the long run in a bid to work on the right team combination.

Afridi added Azhar Ali’s successor has to work hard to involve the other players, who fit in the scheme of things.

“Sarfraz [Ahmed] is an aggressive captain and the team needs such an individual. My best wishes are with him and I hope he finds the right combination as soon as possible so that he can build his team and gain confidence,” Afridi told ICC’s 360 programme.

The veteran all-rounder Afridi said the national team is rebuilding with the inclusion of youngsters as selectors have reckoned them in the limited-over format.

Afridi also wants to see an individual like Sarfraz making into the squad.

The 37-year-old Afridi, who has also been named as the Brand Ambassador for 2017 Nissan Champions Trophy expressed that Pakistan has to put the all-round show to deliver the results across all three formats.

While throwing some light on his mixed 21-year-old career, Afridi said he is delighted to be the part of a national team while terming it as a great ‘achievement’ adding there were many ups and down during his career.

“Cricket makes you cry more than it makes you laugh. We laughed, cried, enjoyed ourselves and a great deal, even became emotional and we were aggressive at times as well,” Afridi revealed.

Last month, Afridi alongside Younis Khan, who has announced his international retirement this week that West Indies Test series will be his last after Pakistan veterans unveiled the Nissan Champions Trophy at Edhi Centre in Karachi.

“Playing for Pakistan dream come true. Playing for Pakistan has been a big achievement for me. It can’t get bigger than that. We need a lot of hard work going forward,” Afridi said.

Afridi, who has been crowd favourite played 398 One-day Internationals after announcing his Test retirement in 2010 while playing 27 Tests.

“My performances were up and down but you can expect that in a 20-21 year career,” Afridi revealed.

The leg-spinner has also played 98 Twenty20 Internationals in which he picked 97 wickets and scored 1,405 runs.

On the other side, Afridi has admitted he didn’t achieve what he has aimed for but has shown satisfaction whatever he has achieved during his remarkable career.

“I did have dreams and goals and I managed to achieve some of them. I consider myself lucky and I got plenty of satisfaction by being involved in the game and it’s like a dream come true,” Afridi further said.

Afridi is also running a foundation ‘Shahid Afridi Foundation’ (SAF) to help the poor and needy people. He stated his prime focus would be on his foundation – to work for the betterment of a society followed by involvement in different leagues for his fans.

“My country has a lot of problems. I want to give back to society by doing social work for the people from small communities and my plan is to continue doing this for a long time,” Afridi concluded.

Recently, Afridi parted his way with Pakistan Super League Franchise Peshawar Zalmi to join Karachi Kings at the president.

However, it has not been confirmed yet by the Kings whether he will be part of the team as a player in the third edition of PSL.

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