‘Relieved’ Afridi hopes to dazzle for Hampshire

KARACHI: Shahid Afridi is looking forward to his first outing as a ‘retired’ player on Thursday (tomorrow) when he will make his debut for Hampshire in their Friends Pro-t20 clash against Essex Eagles in Chelmsford (England).The star allrounder, who announced his retirement from international cricket during a bitter dispute with the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB), is happy that he will be back on the cricket field soon.“I’m really looking forward to be back in action,” Afridi told ‘The News’ in an interview on Tuesday. “The last few weeks were pretty frustrating but thank God it’s over now. I’m feeling relieved,” added the player who will leave here for London on Wednesday (today).Till a few days back it seemed that Afridi won’t be able to fulfill his lucrative assignment with Hampshire as he was busy battling in court against the PCB.It all began when Afridi was relieved of Pakistan’s one-day captaincy last month by the PCB after he hinted at disharmony in the national team management following his team’s 3-2 win in the limited-overs series against West Indies.Reacting to the snub, Afridi retired from international cricket and lashed out at the PCB for its “ill-treatment” towards him. The PCB decided to hit back by suspending his central contract and revoking all No Objection Certificates thus blocking the player’s participation in the Friends Pro-t20 event in England.Afridi returned home and filed a petition in the Sindh High Court. A few days later, he withdrew the petition following a meeting with PCB chief Ijaz Butt. The Board slapped him with a hefty fine of Rs4.5 million but agreed to revoke his NOC to play for Hampshire.The entire episode was a stunning turnaround for the 31-year-old who was hailed as a hero last March when he guided an otherwise underachieving Pakistan team to the World Cup semifinals.However, Afridi made it clear that he won’t delve in the past.“All I’m thinking about is how to regain my form, both as a bowler and as a batsman,” said Afridi, who is one of the world’s most successful allrounders in the shorter formats of the game.“I’m looking forward to do well as an allrounder for Hampshire,” added the player who has scored 6695 runs and bagged 315 wickets in One-day Internationals. He is also one of the most prolific players in Twenty20 Internationals with 683 runs and 53 wickets from 43 matches.Afridi peaked as a legspinner during the 2011 World Cup in sub-continent when he emerged as one of the most successful bowlers in the 16-nation spectacle. But his performance graph dipped in the Caribbean where he flopped both with the bat and ball.However, an unplanned yet well-deserved sabbatical from cricket has left Afridi in a buoyant mood.“I was feeling a bit drained after the World Cup which is probably the reason why my performance wasn’t up to the mark against the West Indies,” he said.“But I’m feeling much better now and am itching to play cricket which is a great sign.”Soon after concluding his Hampshire stint, Afridi is hoping to feature as one of the star attractions at the inaugural Sri Lankan Premier League (SLPL) Twenty20 tournament. The event will be played over 18 days from July 19 and will feature teams from the island’s seven provinces.Afridi will lead one of the competing teams and is already looking forward to the challenge. “It (SLPL) promises to be a challenging tournament and I’m hoping to give my best in it,” he said.

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