Shahid Afridi finally gets dropped - What of Nazir?

Well, the PCB has finally done the needful! They have evicted Shahid Afridi from the Pakistan ODI squad against the Windies. It was a decision that should have come a long time ago.

I have never really been a big fan of Afridi. Though, I admit there was a period of about a season or two that I felt he was an integral part of the team. However ever since the Sri Lankan tour and the England tour, I felt he should have been dropped and shouldn't be a part of our teams World Cup plans. In a previous post, I present my reasons for dropping him from the ODI team. Here I explain why he should not be part of the test team. Both these posts, though a couple of months old, are quite valid as only a bit of cricket has been played since.

Some additions (2006 games only):

• 14: ODI's played in 2006
• 23: his highest score
• 8.14: his average this year (Rana, Iftikhar Anjum, Shoaib Akhtar and Umar Gul have a higher average)
• 114: total runs score (worst amongst all Pakistani batsmen)

Kamran Abbasi called this a "triumph of stupidity"...

This is a World Cup year. Pakistan are about to play their final home one-day series before that tournament. The campaign needs to be relaunched with a sense of optimism and an aura of positivity. Conditions in Pakistan are likely to be closer to the West Indies than conditions in South Africa will be.

Your star player, your talisman, your aggressor, your match-winner needs to rediscover his confidence. A combination of the West Indian attack and home conditions are an ideal formula to reinvigorate your champion and your campaign. The decision looks straightforward. The selectors, though, leave him out. Shahid Afridi out? The mind boggles and the logic wobbles. Nice one. Another triumph of stupidity from the men who want to be paid to do an important job badly.

It's interesting to note that the readers comments below his post surprisingly do not support him. In fact most of the people seem to think this is a good decision.

Afridi's time has come. He has played over 200 ODI matches, and as my analysis shows, his efforts do not validate his inclusion on the playing XI.

Sadly Afridi's exclusion has overshadowed Shahid Nazir's absence from this squad. Quite unfair considering how well he bowled against the West Indies. I feel bad for him, but I am glad he has shown his mettle against the Windies and the English side on the test scene. He is supposedly Pakistan best domestic cricket opening bowler, yet the PCB seem to be considering him only for the tests, and that too as just someone to fill the gaps. His 17 wickets in test cricket in 2006 came at an average of 30, which was the 2nd best average for any Pakistani bowler. I feel he should actually be on the playing XI in the first ODI.