And shocked I was, not by the retirement itself which was inevitable given the countless injury problems and endless tussles with the team management and board but by the fact that he gracefully announced his retirement and more importantly stuck by his word. After all he is the quintessential bad boy of Pakistani cricket and his off-field shenanigans get as much coverage, if not more, than his on-field exploits so it came as a pleasant surprise to see a legend of Pakistan cricket bid farewell on his own terms.
The same however cannot be said about some of his more illustrious and some not so illustrious teammates (yes, Shahid Afridi, I’m looking at you). A player should look to exit in such a way that the fans ask “why did you?” rather than “why don’t you?” However the Pakistani cricketers, off late have taken it upon themselves to change this age old question to “why this time?”
Shahid Afridi is the most recent victim of this highly contagious virus which threatens to destabilize the already dilapidated national cricket team. Intelligence and common sense have not been Afridi’s best suits in the best of times so it comes as no surprise that Mr. Afridi -whose greatest achievement is not the fastest century in ODI’s as some people would have you believe but managing to stay in the team for 15 years after continued inept performances – issued a conditional retirement citing the boards disrespectful behavior as the reason for his decision.
Funny he should talk about respect since there are several incidents in his career where he has allegedly showed disrespect to both his teammates and the game itself. The current PCB regime under the ‘astute’ leadership of Ijaz Butt is perhaps one of the worst boards to have held office but is conditional retirement really the step forward?
This trend of conditional retirements can be traced back to those of Mohammad Yousuf and Abdul Razzaq. Both stalwarts announced their retirements in 2007 as a show of protest after being omitted from the T20 world championship squad. The selection committee at the time was justified in their decision to omit the duo; Yousuf hardly fits the bill for a T20 cricketer and Razzaq who in theory should be ideal for the format was going through an indifferent period with both bat and ball.
But instead of putting their heads down and trying to win their place, the duo decided, not only to retire but also join ICL knowing full well that this would jeopardize their chances for the other formats as well. While Razzaq reconciled and made his way back into the team, Yousuf was hell bent on redefining the term “mood swings”. Normally so decisive when it comes to judging the line and length of the cricket ball, Yousuf showed uncharacteristic indecisiveness when it came to calling it quits.
After being cajoled back into the team and subsequently made captain, Yousuf decided to retire, again, in the aftermath of the disastrous Australian tour where the PCB slapped him with an indefinite ban. Yousuf, in May 2010, went on to say that, “I will not change my decision about the retirement.’’ But surprise surprise he did exactly that two months later. “I am available any time for my national team.”
Growing up and playing mohalla (street) cricket while in my teens, I often came across children who in their attempt of a hissy fit would take their bat/ball/wickets when not given a run out but that was exactly that – mohalla cricket played by a bunch of pre-teens but when grown men start the same histrionics, one begins to question their sanity – and their motives.
Conditional retirements appears to be the latest bargaining tool for our cricketers in their quest for player power and if not nipped in the bud, the situation may well spiral out of control with other players looking to get their demands fulfilled by issuing similar conditional retirements. They should in fact look to take a cue from the so called bad boy of Pakistani cricket and learn a thing or two about manning up.
