Former Pakistan skipper and celebrated all-rounder Shahid Afridi has finally accepted the offer of his memorable farewell from the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) for what his die-hard fans were waiting for so long, following his retirement announcement in February this year.
As his retirement did not sit well with his followers, the 37-year-old explosive batsman who has served Pakistan for over two decades while donning the national jersey had already rejected multiple offers recently.
The reports suggested Afridi is bound to get a lap of honour during the Twenty20 series decider taking place between the hosts Pakistan and World XI-led by South African Faf du Plessis. The ceremony would also felicitate the former Pakistan skipper Misbah-Ul-Haq after 2009 Twenty20 World Cup captain Younis Khan declined the offer from PCB.
Having the massive influence on the youngsters, Afridi had played a pivotal role for Pakistan both with the bat and a ball during his career which had witnessed the purple and lean patch, respectively. The flamboyant and explosive batter further couldn’t hide his excitement to be the part of the final T20Is at Gaddafi Stadium in Lahore on September 15 (Friday).
The right-handed batsman took to microblogging website while revealing he is thrilled to witness the game.
So who's coming tonight?Its going2be a thrilling&an exciting game.Lets celebrate keeping victory&defeat aside. C u all??#CriceketKiHalalala
— Shahid Afridi (@SAfridiOfficial) September 15, 2017
It’s pertinent to mention, the Board under the chairmanship of Shaharyar Khan has gone through a strained relationship with Afridi owing to the farewell recently.
However, the newly-appointed chairman Najam Sethi had played a significant role in bringing the senior players to the table to discuss the various topics in a bid to overhaul cricket in Pakistan. Afridi was approached by Sethi and this time he has agreed to go on board in a bid to meet the World XI players, who will leave the country after the completion of the third T20Is.
On September 14 (Thursday), adamant in his approach Afridi deliberately skipped the award ceremony which revealed how displeased he was with the national board for cricket which is housed at iconic Gaddafi Stadium in Lahore. Like his U-turns for his retirement, Afridi at the first instance did not want to lose such a big platform, as he made his mind to accept the offer after tremendous efforts were put in by the PCB including its administrators in the contemporary set-up.
With his leg-break bowling, Afridi bagged 540 wickets across all formats, after he played 398 ODIs, 98 T20Is and 27 Tests. Afridi scored 8,064 runs in the 50-over format, followed by 1716 in Tests and 1404 in T20Is, respectively after making his international appearance in 1996 against Kenya at Nairobi.