Staff Report

Sharjah – Boom boom Shahid Afridi has finally announced his retirement from international cricket, over 20 years after making his debut for Pakistan.

It was a fitting fashion when Afridi said goodbye as he made 54 runs for Peshawar Zalmi on 28 balls against Karachi Kings in the second edition of Pakistan Super League (PSL) in Sharjah, UAE. Unfortunately, the boom boom side lost the match.

Afridi led Pakistan to the World T20 in India last year, stepped down as captain after it and though he didn’t retire, he was omitted from the two T20 squads Pakistan have picked since, for a one-off against England and a three-game series with West Indies.

Last year, the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) chairman Shaharyar Khan, said he had reached an agreement with Afridi that he would step down after the World T20. “He is also a Pathan and I am also a Pathan and once the agreement is done between two Pathans it can’t be changed,” Khan said.

Earlier, before the tournament and during the inaugural PSL, Afridi revealed that he was reconsidering his retirement. So once he didn’t announce his retirement after the World T20, a new selection committee under Inzamam-ul-Haq simply stopped picking him.

“I have said goodbye to international cricket,” Afridi said in Sharjah. “I am playing for my fans and will continue to play this league for another two years but it’s goodbye from international cricket. Now my foundation is important for me. I have played with seriousness and in a professional way for my country.”

Afridi has been a slightly less luminous figure at the PSL this season than the last – for one, he relinquished the captaincy to Darren Sammy before the PSL 2017 began. This season, he has, after six matches, only one wicket, though his economy rate has been good. His 54 against Karachi was his first PSL fifty in 16 matches.