Afridi-Laxman tiff: War of words heats up
Posted on Sep 01, 2008 at 09:31 | Updated Sep 01, 2008 at 11:06
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Mumbai: Team Hyderabad’s skipper and Test star V V S Laxman has reminded Pakistan’s flamboyant cricketer Shahid Afridi that it was a collective failure which led to the team finishing last in the inaugural Indian Premier League (IPL) Twenty20 and he had no business to blame the captain alone.
"Afridi has no team ethics. Speaking negatively about the team in public, let alone the captain, is just not on. Being an experienced cricketer, he should not be questioning the way the team functions. I am really shocked to say the least. He should know that it was a collective failure because he was part of the team. It is unfortunate that he chose to blame the captain for it," Laxman said on Monday.
Laxman was reacting to Afridi’s comments to a Pakistani news channel that former Aussie wicketkeeper-batsman Adam Gilchrist would be a better choice to lead Team Hyderabad and that Twenty20 would not suit Laxman’s style of play and was found wanting on the field despite not living up to the expectations of being a big hitter himself.
Laxman, who fractured his hand after leading the side in six games of which he could win just one, pointed out that a captain can only be as good as the team and a single person cannot be held responsible for failure in a team game like cricket.
"Probably it is time someone told Afridi that a captain can only be as good as the team and to blame only me is totally out of place. The truth is that the team did not perform to its potential and every player should take the blame for it and try and comeback strongly in the next edition instead of blaming each other," the elegant middle order batsman said.
Pointing out that the team could win just one match in the next eight games after his injury forced him out of the team, Laxman said, "it was unfortunate and frustrating to sustain the injury when things were looking up as four out of the five matches that we lost under my captaincy were very close and could have gone either way."
"There was not much I could do after I fractured my hand and heeded the team’s request to travel with it. So just being with the team does not mean I was influencing the decisions on the field. Gilchrist was totally in charge of the game once he took over from me and being a true professional, he does not take orders from others and was instrumental in making the decisions in the middle," he added.
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Total Comments: 9
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Posted By David Damara
Why is Laxman beating around the bush? He should straight question Afridi\''s contribution. Afridi was a dead weight for the
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Posted By ultimator
I agree Afridi does not have team ethics does not care about his own team Pakistan and when he plays
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Posted By Sunny
Afridi is speaking the truth. Not only Laxman, all the Indians in general lack the aggressive winning attitude, overwhelming desire
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Posted By amir yaqoob
i think afridi is 100% right.adam gil should be captain of hydrabad.laxman ismbasicallyatestcricketer.heis not aonedayplayer.hemustbekickedoutfromteam.
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Posted By amir yaqoob
i think afridi is 100% right.the reason behind this is bad strategies adopted by laxman in first 6 matches.
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