Afridi rules out going back on ODI retirement

Karachi: Pakistan’s flamboyant all-rounder Shahid Afridi has ruled out any chance of making a comeback to One-day International cricket, insisting the new players needed proper time to settle down in the national team.
Afridi, who left for Dhaka with a few other players including Ahmed Shehzad to play the lone T20 international against Bangladesh, said he has no intentions of going back on his decision to retire from the ODIs.
“My decision is final. We have to understand that the new players will take time to adjust and settle down and we have to give them proper time for this,” Afridi told reporters before his departure.
Afridi retired from ODIs after the World Cup, having appeared in 400 games. He is now focusing only on T20. He said all his efforts are now focused on building a strong team, which will be capable of winning the next World T20 Cup in India in 2016.
“We have some exciting players in our T20 squad and my aim as captain now is to build up a strong outfit,” he said.
“That we lost the one-day series to Bangladesh will not make a difference to us and we want to win this lone T20 game,” Afridi added.
The all-rounder said that it was unfair to say that the career of off-spinner Saeed Ajmal was finished after just one match.
“Saeed has given great service to the country and we shouldn’t make judgements on basis of one or two matches.” Saeed returned to the Pakistan side in the first two ODIs against Bangladesh with a rectified bowling action and while he was very expensive in the first match, he bowled better in the second one. (PTI)