Is Shahid Afridi way too much?

26 Feb 2011 - Sri Lanka Vs Pakistan - Group A, ICC world cup 2011.

Shahid Afridi, the skipper, came to field with his team to defend 277. Wasim Akram, the former captain of Pakistan, a crucial member of world cup winning 1992 team, was now a commentator.

Afridi was very vocal and animated. He shouted to encourage his team, had a constant chatter with every bowler, between every delivery. Wasim was upset. He said " Gul, Razak, and Akhtar are all seasoned bowlers. They shouldn't be told each ball, how to be bowled. Afridi may think he's helping them, yet it will put extra pressure on bowlers". Wasim went on to say " I ll be very upset if I was told every ball like this, I know my field and I would bowl according to my field".

This was the first 15 overs. Sri Lankan opening pair had put on 70 plus runs. Things were not good for Pakis. We could see Akhtar was panting in his very first over. The bowlers seemed agitated, exhausted very early on. May be humidity, may be crowd pressure, may be their internal team problems, who knows?

That 15 overs Afridi kept his vocal chords in charge. Then the first wicket felt. Then Afridi took his first in his first over, the priced wicket of Dilshan. Sooner Mahela was bowled by Akhtar, and then Afridi striked again removing Thilan. Sri Lanka struggled there onwards, with 4 down, before reaching 100.

That 4 wickets changed the flow. I don't know what Wasim would tell right now. Towards the end of the innings whole Pakistan team was vocal and Afridi achieved 300 wicket mark.


Moral: Leading a team is always difficult, when you have commentators buzzing. At the end of the day, when the voice of commentators are faded, when the dust on the pitch is settled, the result is written in history. Afridi did just that. This applies to our lives too.

photo credit : cricinfo.com