Though retirement U-turns are not new to Pakistan cricket, it is Shahid Afridi who has made the quit-and-comeback flip flops an unending practice. The only thing he is consistent in is retirement U-turns. Wasim Akram may have termed his retirement a joke, but now calls of ICC intervention on irresponsible retirements have started surfacing. Senior players Younus Khan and Mohammad Yousuf have done this before but none with the brazen audacity to renounce his own decisions the way Afridi does.
On April 12, 2006, Afridi announced retirement from Test cricket saying he wanted to concentrate on ODIs, with a particular focus on the 2007 World Cup, and to spend more time with his family. On April 27, however, he reversed his decision, saying that coach Bob Woolmer had told him he was one of the main players in the team. Afridi was charged on February 8, 2007, of bringing the game into disrepute after he was seen on camera thrusting his bat at a spectator who swore at him on his way up the steps after being dismissed.
Shortly after Pakistan won the 2009 ICC World Twenty20 the captain Younus Khan announced his retirement from Twenty20 cricket the PCB announced that Shahid Afridi had taken over as captain in T20Is. On January 31, 2010, Afridi was caught on camera biting into the ball towards the end of the ODI series in Australia. Later Afridi pleaded guilty to ball tampering and he was banned from two Twenty20 internationals. In March 2010 the board announced that Shahid Afridi had been appointed ODI captain in place of the sacked Mohammad Yousuf.
On May 25, 2010, Afridi was appointed captain of the national team in all three formats, after he announced his return to Test cricket. In July 2010, Afridi captained Pakistan in the first Test of the series at Lord’s against England. After the match, he announced retirement from Test cricket again citing lack of temperament for Test cricket as the reason. Afridi was officially removed from the Test squad on the England tour, but after the spot-fixing scandal, he stated that he might return to Test cricket.
The PCB declared Shahid Afridi as Pakistan’s captain for the 2011 World Cup. Soon after the World Cup Pakistan toured the West Indies. Pakistan coach Waqar Younis, reported to the PCB: “As a captain he is very immature, has poor discipline, lacks a gameplan and is unwilling to listen to others’ opinions or advice”. After the series, on May 19, 2011, the PCB replaced Afridi as ODI captain with Misbah-ul-Haq.
On May 30, 2011, Afridi again announced his retirement from international cricket in protest against his treatment by the PCB. The PCB suspended Afridi’s central contract, fined him 4.5 million rupees and revoked his NOC which allowed Afridi to play for Hampshire. Afridi filed a petition with the Sindh High Court to overturn the sanctions. On October 18, 2011, he again withdrew retirement saying he was available for ODIs ad T20s.
Former Indian Test cricketer Sanjay Manjrekar recently asked the ICC to intervene and stop retirement decisions based on whims. “I wonder if someone retires whether it can be documented or a contract signed by the ICC. With such steps probably the retirement decision can be taken a lot more seriously.” Manjrekar said the quit-and-comeback stories were appearing too often. He said, “We have seen Sanath Jayasuriya, who announced his intention to retire after the Pakistan series in 2006, but reversed his decision soon after. So it’s become a little bit of a joke.”