LAHORE – Pakistan all-rounder Shahid Afridi has defended his decision of quitting Test cricket, saying he does not have the temperament to play the traditional format of the game. However, Afridi believes that he should not have ended his Test career without completing the series against Australia in England last year. “My decision was absolutely the right one. I don’t think I am a Test-temperament player, hence it’s best that instead of me, players more suited to Test cricket are selected,” Afridi said. Afridi had quit the five-day format after Pakistan lost to Australia at Lord’s, last year.
Afridi said he did not become the Pakistan Test captain by choice and he was pressurised to take up the job in the interest of the team. “I didn’t want to accept, but I was under pressure to accept it. I was advised that the unit that I had built [in ODIs] should be continued in Tests too. I didn’t want to back out or let the team down. The team was going through a difficult phase and we were trying to re-build the team (hence I accepted),” he said. “However, I had made it clear that if I didn’t enjoy it, I would leave. I should not have quit after that first Test, but I realised that Test cricket is not for me,” he was quoted by Pakpassion as saying.
Afridi said the ODI side needs to learn to utilise the batting powerplay well.
“Quite a few teams have faced problems with regards to the batting powerplay. For us, when we take the batting powerplay, we start losing wickets, so then we thought it’s probably best to delay the powerplay and take it right at the end to avoid losing wickets earlier. I do realise we have this problem. The coach and I have discussed this in detail and hopefully we will see some better results on this in the upcoming series in the West Indies,” he added.
