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My performance has not been up to the mark, concedes Afridi

Tuesday, November 20, 2007
NEW DELHI: Pakistan’s discarded all-rounder Shahid Afridi has vowed to earn his place back in the Test squad after being released by the national team management following a disappointing performance in the one-day series against India, writes Khalid Hussain.

“I will go back to Pakistan, take a little rest and then play in some domestic matches in a bid to regain my form,” Afridi said here on Monday before returning to Karachi. Afridi’s was a surprise exclusion from the Test squad as the national selectors opted to axe him apparently because of his below-par performance in the One-day International (ODI) series which Pakistan lost 2-3.

Afridi, who has scored 5239 runs from 249 ODI matches at 23.28, scored 31, 29, 12 and 1 in the first four games of the series and was dropped from the final one-dayer played in Jaipur on Sunday. He was not retained in the squad for the three-match Test series.

Afridi, 26, said that he was disappointed at failing to make it to the Test squad but was quick to add that he didn’t deserve to play in the Tests.

“Its good for me that I’ve been dropped from the squad because my performance has not been up to the mark,” said Afridi, who also failed to impress much in his role as an attacking spinner in the one-day series.

Afridi said that the Test snub could turn out to be a blessing in disguise for him as it would give him an opportunity to feature in the ongoing Quaid-e-Azam Trophy for his employers Habib Bank.

“I believe that playing in domestic matches can help me find my rhythm. I know that I will be back in the time if I regain my form and am hopeful of doing that,” he expressed. Meanwhile, Afridi and three other Pakistani players who have been released from national duty after the one-day series were ‘delayed’ in Delhi because of an oversight by team officials.

Afridi, Imran Nazir, Rao Iftikhar Anjum and Fawad Alam, were stranded at the Indira Gandhi International Airport here after their luggage didn’t arrive in time from Jaipur. The players flew out of Jaipur for New Delhi on Monday morning but there luggage was sent by road. The vehicle carrying their luggage got delayed because of traffic and Afridi and Fawad — the two Karachi-bound players — had to miss their flight.

According to information, somebody even put the passports of the players in the luggage which was why they were unable to take the flight to Karachi. The luggage, however, arrived barely in time for the players to catch an evening flight to Lahore.

Things weren’t too good for the three players who arrived here to replace the outgoing quartet for the Test series. Pacer Mohammad Sami, spinner Danish Kaneria and batsman Faisal Iqbal were in for a surprise when nobody came at the airport to receive them.