ISLAMABAD, Pakistan: Former Twenty20 Skipper Shahid Afridi has asked the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) to give him a farewell match so that he can exit in a befitting manner.
It may be mentioned that Pakistan was eliminated from the 2016 World Twenty20 in March 2016, after losing to India, New Zealand and Australia. There were talks about this being Afridi’s last Twenty20 match.
But after the loss to Australia he said that he would think about retiring and instead on April 3 Afridi, stepped down from T20 captaincy and didn’t announce his retirement.
Shahid Afridi said he deserves a farewell match and he has asked PCB to provide him with that so that he can bid goodbye to his fans. “A farewell match is my right,” the all-rounder said while talking to a private news channel.
Afridi said he had done a lot for Pakistan cricket and deserves a chance to bid farewell to his fans in a befitting manner. Afridi said that he has talked to PCB Chairman Shehryar Khan about the farewell match.
Afridi had earlier also expressed his desire to retire on a high note. There were reports that the PCB would allow Afridi to play one last match and then the all-rounder would announce his retirement.
The plan was to send Afridi to UAE as the 16th player and he would appear in a final match against the West Indies before announcing his retirement and going out gracefully.
But then the plan was also put on hold and Chairman PCB executive committee Najam Sethi had said that the board would give a fitting sendoff to Afridi and Saeed Ajmal.
The all-rounder has played 398 ODIs and 98 T20 internationals and also captained Pakistan in all three formats.