Opinion Discretion is advised
There was a time his kamikaze belligerence with the bat put bums on seats across the world.
There was a time his kamikaze belligerence with the bat put bums on seats across the world. Whether you liked him or not,there was no chance of you ignoring Shahid Afridi. Dull moments were sparse after all when the handsome Pathan was wielding his bat.
The veteran Pakistanis batting though has of late plummeted to dire levels of ineptitude. In his pomp,he intimidated bowlers and wowed audiences with his bellicose hitting. An Afridi knock these days though can almost be characterized as a slapstick cameo act totally unrelated to the situation of the match.
Watching Afridi being dismissed while attempting an audacious swipe off his first ball for the umpteenth time must have been anything but funny for Hafeez & Co during the World T20. Twice during the tournament,Afridi walked in when Pakistan needed him to put all his experience to use. Twice he failed them. Against South Africa,his team were 63-5. Afridi decided to clear the fence off JP Duminy straight away and was out. He fell similarly in the semi-final as Pakistan got knocked-out.
The argument is not about whether Afridi like his fellow exponent of the hara-kiri school of batting,Virender Sehwag,should make drastic adjustments to his approach. The time for that has gone. What has been baffling though is how two batsmen with such colossal experience refuse to budge even slightly from their inherent modus operandi. Especially if their Plan A or the only way they can play isnt fetching them the desired results.
Both Sehwag and Afridi can make up for any number of dot balls once they are set. All they require is to accommodate a few sighters early on. Clearing the fence is hardly a bother for either. The issue rather is their inability to harness the intrinsic diktat to flaunt their bravura from the time they mark their guard. For inspiration,they just have to look at Chris Gayle and Shane Watsons success after theyve learned to temper their belligerence.
Bharat is a Senior Correspondent based in Mumbai. bharat.sundaresan@expressindia.com
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