Saturday, July 5, 2008

Afridi Under a Spell

"Afridi is convinced that his enemies have carried out a spell of black magic on him which the player believes has affected his performance on the field"

I don't know which source has broken this news but a number of news sites are reporting this.

It is the same source who also mentions that some close friends of Afridi advised him to see a "religious expert" to get rid of the spell cast on him.

We did mention recently that Afridi went to see a "holy man" to seek help with his batting form, but we didn't know that it was because Afridi thought he was under a spell of black magic.

He can't be serious.

Niether Afridi, nor the source.

Who are his enemies?

The opposing teams? Irfan Pathan? Sanath Jayasuriya? Shoaib Malik? Who?

And why?

He's no Sachin Tendulkar that you need black magic to reign him down.

Nor is he a Glenn McGrath that you need some wierd vodoo dolls to keep him out of matches.

This just doesn't make sense.

And why hasn't this black magic affected his bowling?

Oh it just works on one aspect of the game.

Come on. No really just come on!

If anything this magic has made Afridi the leading wicket taker in ODIs for 2008.

When will you understand?

Make your pitch on this post...



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31 Pitched:

  1. Obaid said...
     

    I remember a 'guru' of some sort once told Razzaq to eat spinach only to get over some spell etc... He ended up getting food poisoning I think :)

  2. Anonymous said...
     

    Obaid you are a nut case to think that by eating spinach one gets food poisoning. If you eat only one vegetable for a month or two, then you obviously get very weak. Even if you eat only chicken for a month or two you may be getting enough protein quota but it will not meet the other deficiencies which your body needs and you normally get them from a balanced diet.

    Q

    whats the point in writing a thread on such a trite subject? This is your second such thread and its receiving hardly any readership. I think you should read khansahab's blog and see how they tackle these trivial issues and put them aside and how they are focusing on the Asia Cup and receiving so much attention.

    I don't like the comments of the other blogger here who is so full of attitude and arrogance and I used to have some respect for him but not anymore, hence I don't write there anymore.

  3. Anonymous said...
     

    Q

    I know you are a staunch Afridi fan and how hard it would have been for you to write a thread like this about him, cricketers come and go, but for a true fan the game is always bigger than a player and you are a true fan of the game.
    That is why I always respect your views but jingoistic people can never understand or respect such views.

    As I predicted Malik was back in the team, he won't survive for too long though, if he steps down from captaincy and change his attitude as a player he might play for quite some time otherwise his career will end forever.

    I won't repeat the reasons why Malik and Afridi should be rested as I have repeated them time and again.But the most important point is that both of them consider each other a threat and have constantly been trying to pull each others leg. This is not only creating division in the team but also affecting the teams over all performance.

    Malik should also be removed from captaincy, its height of mismanagement by PCB they have created another aspiring captain in Misbah, Malik's reinstatement as a captain will certainly have a negative affect on Misbah and the team.

    I don't know if it is true or just sensationalism that Afridi is seeking the help of a PIR to regain his form, he for sure needs some counselling and a lot of practice to regain his form.

    I don't know if their is any cure for cowardice, Malik although being a better player lacks attitude and self confidence he should be out permanently if he doesn't change his attitude.

    As sports bloggers we carry a responsibility to stay true to the game, by humiliating our own legends, distorting their names like an eight year old school boy, passing insulting remarks based on the ethnicity of a player does not make a blog great neither it does any service to the game. Only 8 year old school boys might enjoy such articles.

    Amit/Khansahab said "once he respected me, but now he doesn't write anymore on my blog."
    Well I never subscribed to your jingoistic views and always condoned them whether it was on Pakspin or on cricketfiles our alliance was not natural and was a mistake which we all realized. So move on.

    And I don't think you are doing a better job than Q in covering Asia cup.

  4. Anonymous said...
     

    All conflicts aside, can someone please explain to me how a person who fails a fitness test 6 minutes into it and drops like cristiano ronaldo does on a football field is fit to play 48 hours later??

    i have always been a supporter of malik and had hoped that he will be a positive and an attacking captain, this hope had risen from his straight forward nature and his captaincy of the sialkot team! lot of our ex-players too had thought highly of him but unfortunately that hope remained just that!!

    The fact that he did not command the respect a captain deserves in a team coupled with his anibility for whatever reason not to bowl were major factors which led to the negativity and uncertainty in his captaincy.

    I feel it is time for a change but that change should not be brought upon in a manner where shoaib malik does not even find a place in the playing eleven, because at this moment I dont think we have a batsman in the domestic circuit who can take up Malik's position!

    On an altogether different topic, this is to everyone...what do you make of Michael Holding's resignation from the ICC Cricket Committee??

  5. Cine Masala said...
     

    You've a nicely done site with lots of effort and good updates. I would like to welcome you to submit your stories to www.surfurls.com and get that extra one way traffic to your site.

  6. NAzhar said...
     

    I think Afridi probably said it jokingly mocking his own batting form. The media likes to sensationalize everything.

    Amit - go eat your veggies!

  7. Q said...
     

    Dear Amit - Welcome to Well Pitched. We always love new readers on board.

    I think you are new to the blogging world so I'd like to take this opportunity to give you a few tips.

    Firstly, the number of comments on a blog are no indication of the number of readers. Generally the commenters are less than 10% of the readers.

    Secondly, I have all the respect for Khansahab and his blog legslip, but no blog has covered the Asia Cup as much as Well Pitched. You would have known that had u browsed through Well Pitched.

    Thirdly, Razzak did get food poisoning from spinach. Its a well known story. Obaid doesnt think that be eating it one gets food poisoning, he was merely stating a fact.

    Fourthly, thank you for your lesson on vegetables, truly appreciated.

    Fifthly, I dont know who u find arrogant or full of attitude, but your comments didn't seem otherwise.

    Thank you for stopping by. Hope u keep coming back.

  8. Q said...
     

    Thank you Cine Perk - I will look through the site u've mentioned and submit the posts there.

  9. Q said...
     

    Wasim, it has been hard hearing abt all this abt Afridi..

    U were right abt malik coming back for Afridi though I think its not a good move. Malik may strengthen the batting but the bowling had a very weak look to it without Afridi.

    Lets c how it goes in the future - I agree with u that Malik needs to be removed of the captaincy.

    I believe it is Misbah's time.

  10. Q said...
     

    Life in Binary - I myself don't know how Malik was fit that soon and that too to be the 5th bowler in the team. Strange.

    DNA has come out in support of Malik and said that the man will continue his tenure. So I guess no change happening.

    As for Holding - well I guess he doesn't like Clive Lloyd.

  11. Anonymous said...
     

    Q

    I completely agree.Misbah should be named the new captain,it was a pleasant surprise to see all he players performing and looking happy under him.

  12. Anonymous said...
     

    Q and Wasim,

    i dont mean to gate crash your enthusiasm and i am by no way anti-misbah, but based on one match can we really say that we have a replacement for Malik?!? a match where our backs were against the wall, a game against India being played in Pakistan, a loss against India in the previous match which too was played in Pakistan!! i personally believe that all these factors played a more important role to spur the team on! otherwise they would have been b*t*h slapped all over the place by the public!

    Taking nothing away from Misbah's captaincy i feel that you need atleast one series to judge a persons captaincy skills! but yes i do agree that once Malik is shown the door, Misbah will be the right person to lead the team unless Younis Khan decides to get rid of his jekyll & hide persona..

  13. Q said...
     

    Life in binary - I agree one match isn't enough to judge a player or a captain.

    What I do know is that its time for Malik to be replaced. Not in the XI but as the captain.

    And the only replacement at this time is Misbah.

  14. Anonymous said...
     

    Q,

    agree with you on that.

    btw good job you guys are carrying out here!

  15. Q said...
     

    Thanks LiB.

  16. Anonymous said...
     

    Wasim

    When I started posting here on Wellpitched, it did not surprise me that you started indirectly attacking me personally and my views. I don't want anything to do with you. You are a bully.

    I am not posting here as Amit, and I have no idea why you are so paranoid that you assume anyone who criticises you has to be me or the other managers of my blog. This is the height of madness and paranoia. I didn't even know Amit knew about this site, he probably does know of sites because he also posts on Cricinfo blogs.

    You will attack me indirectly and try and make subtle remarks about our blog, I expected this from you but this is the first time I am addressing you here on Wellpitched and I DON'T WANT A DECENT PERSON LIKE Q, WHO IS AN INNOCENT BYSTANDER to our conflict, to suffer because of your personality. So you can keep attacking me or try and bully me, it will have no affect on me. I have grown up and these little things don't affect me anymore.

    As to the mistake our alliance was, yes it was a mistake. What else would it be? We started as 4 managers, the 3 joined together and the composition of the 3 is as followes: one is a Pure Pathan, one is a Muhajir-Pathan and one is a pure Punjabi. You were left to your own devices because the 3 of us understood what type of person you really are. Regionalism, hence, has nothing to do with why the things are now as they are. I know you will not try to understand this, which is exactly the very reason why we left you and decided to move on.

    I feel sorry for Amit because he has also been a victim of your bullying attitude, lack of tolerance and arrogance. I can only surmise this from the way he has spoken about you in this post of his, otherwise I only ever communicate with him when he posts on my blog, I don't speak to him otherwise. I may have emailed him once or twice to say hi/hello but I've certainly never spoken to him about what he has said in this post.

    I have respect for Wellpitched which is why I am posting here. This isn't about competing with Wellpitched, if I didn't respect Q or his site I would not be posting here. In no way have I ever said my site is better than this site, I am too mature to say these stupid and confrontational things. I like Q's coverage of Asia Cup and also his coverage of other issues, I may not agree with him all the time but that is exactly what debate and discussion is about, and what cricket blogging is about.

    And unlike you Wasim, I have not mentioned the name of my site here even once because my intention here is to not exploit Q in any way or seek my personal gain.

    I have no ill will for you and I respect you for whatever you are, I still don't feel that animosity for you which you feel for me. But that is just because I am a different person. Q is mature himself and I need not suggest or insinuate anything to him because he has the ability to understand and realise who has what type of nature and why people make certain statements.

    My only suggestion to you is, please don't use this platform to insult or attack me and don't take advantage of an innocent bystander. But your very problem is that you never listen to anyone or try and understand anyone. So I know you will not change.

  17. Anonymous said...
     

    Q,

    I am sorry for all this and my intention has always been and will always be to support you on your site and to participate in healthy discussion. I have commented on your site many more times than you have on mine, and I am not asking you to post on my site either. I will keep commenting as and when I see fit.

    If you have some sort of facility to see the IP addresses or some form of ID for the people who post on your site, I suggest you make use of that to see whether it was myself who posted as Amit, so Wasim's troubled mind can be put to rest. Just a little request, if you can't or don't want to, I have no problem because it does not affect me anyway.

  18. Viswanathan said...
     

    Q,

    You blog seems to have become a battleground. I am bemused. :)

  19. Trideep said...
     

    Q,

    Y do u want Afridi to be serious about nething. He never was. However the news is amazing

    Secondly, In my absence for about a week, well-pitched has become a battleground. All the best. ;)

  20. Q said...
     

    Ott & Tri - I am also bemused. I have warned these guys more than once and they just don't listen.

    Thanks for the best wishes ;-)

  21. Q said...
     

    Wasim & Khansahab, I have requested the both of u before and I am doing it again - please keep the discussions centred on cricket. I would truly appreciate it if you guys take your personal war elsewhere - your blogs, emails, wherever as neither I nor my readers want to be privy to all of this.

    Thanks for your comments and u r always welcome here but please if u want to attack each other then please use another forum.

  22. Anonymous said...
     

    Q

    That is exactly what I have said, this blog should only be about cricket but Wasim perceives it like a battleground unfortunately. His soul is troubled and I hope he is at peace soon.

    I took offence at you telling me to stop the mischief because I have not posted as any other name other than "khansahab" and I have no duplicitous intentions.

    But I still feel sorry that you are an innocent bystander to this rubbish and you are being made to suffer because of one individual who is certainly not me.

  23. Q said...
     

    Khansahab, I have no where suggested that you posted as someone else. I was referring to your reply to Wasim when I requested the both of you to stop attacking each other.

  24. Anonymous said...
     

    It will be interesting to see if Afridi is selected now for any future series. I think the next assignment Pakistan has is the Champions Trophy.

    Pakistan has played so much cricket at home this year, this isn't excellent training for the team to play on foreign soil.

    I feel very, very sad that political events have caused so much turmoil to Pakistan cricket. They really needed to play Australia.

    Most Muslims agree that black magic exists because there is reference to it in religion. Due to this reason I also believe it exists, however I don't think Afridi's "enemies" (whether they are within the team or outside the team) are the cause for Afridi's recent failures with the bat.

    And I agree about the fact that, how come the black magic hasn't affected his bowling?

    One of the reasons why my respect has grown for Afridi is because he has become more mature and has started seeing the problem with himself for his performance unlike most other Pakistani players who are always blaming conspiracies and others for their downfall. If he starts blaming black magic for his poor show it would be an unwise move.

    Captaincy will definitely alter his batting performance, most likely for the better. However if he isn't captain he can also stay in the team on accounts of his bowling and fielding.

    He is a fighter; whenever he has been dropped he has always performed exceptionally in domestic games and has made tremendous returns to international cricket.

  25. Anonymous said...
     

    Some questions will arise in the near future, all cricket blogs will be trying to explore these:

    1) Will Afridi be dropped in the near future?

    2) If the Champions Trophy goes ahead and IF Pakistan perform the same way as they have been doing for a year (great against minnows, poor against established teams) what will happen to Malik and Lawson?

    3) Is Mohammad Asif returning, fitness permitting?

    4) Is Shoaib Akhtar returning?

    5) What will happen to Mansoor Amjad and Saeed Ajmal? How will the team management react to them. For eg, if the pitch is only partially assisting the spinners, will they be given confidence to play and perform?

    6) What will happen to Umar Gul? Gul has had numerous problems with injuries. When he is fit and in form he is destructive but his frequent injury problems have become a burden on the team especially when he is perceived as the lead man in Asif's and Akhtar's absence.

    7) Abdur Rauf has shown promise. Is he a replacement for Umar Gul in the near future? Sohail Tanvir is in form and I think Rao Ifthikar has not performed poorly so I think he will stay.

    8) How was Safraz all over as a keeper in the Asia Cup and will we see Kamran Akmal in his place?

    9) How is the team morale now? Afridi is under stress, the team looked united without Malik and the seniors are not getting along with Lawson. If the team morale worsens undoubtedly this will result in consistent poor performances.

    The partnership of Malik and Lawson has proved to be one of the most destructive to Pakistan cricket in the nation's history.

  26. Anonymous said...
     

    I never realized or thought for a second that my comments would create a war of words on this blog.

    Q

    This was the first time I have posted on your blog and perhaps this one could be the last time. But I am not new to blogging, I have been a regular on many other blogs @ cricinfo and I was referring to the rudeness of wasim and I am not khansahab or any of his friends. Once again wasim has proved that he can be arrogant and rude to anyone he likes.

    He assumed that I am a staunch Afridi fan whereas I am not. He calls everyone as jingoistic but in reality he is the biggest jingoist and never care to understand someone else's point of view not even to the most respected Mr. M.Y. Kasim because the old man is blunt, straightforward and speaks the truth. Even he was insulted by wasim.

    Q. my point was 'the subject of this thread is trivial' it does not mean trivial subjects don't get any attention. If you remember Mr. Abbassi on Pakspin sometimes write very trite only to attract criticism and most people give him the flak he deserves.

    If you wish to delete these comments of mine, you are most welcome to do so, because I said something out of fairness and in good faith. If you welcome me, I would like to comment more, if you want to kick me out of here, go ahead this is your blog.

  27. Q said...
     

    Amit, as I mentioned before - u are welcome to comment here as long as u stick to cricket.

    U didn't do that the 1st time round, nor have u done that this time.

    Wasim pls don't respond to him here.

  28. Anonymous said...
     

    Q

    I just came back from a vacation and read all the filth written about me its a shame, If you want me not to respond to personal attacks launched against me fine I will not, but then you should also delete unprovoked attacks against me.

    I have always contributed to your blog in a healthy manner.

    When I blogrolled your site I knew this will happen, these guys will come and try to sabotage your blog,
    I am not afraid of these punks but I do care about your blog so I will not write here anymore.

  29. Q said...
     

    Wasim I know you have contributed to this blog in a very healthy manner and I have always appreciated your comments and respected your views. As have other readers of this blog.

    If you do not wish to continue commenting here, it is your decision, but all I did was request you and the others including Khansahab not to make any personal attacks here. Thats all.

  30. Anonymous said...
     

    Q

    You cannot quote me one instance when I initiated a fight on your blog, I only responded, I have changed my mind I will continue to respond if you let these guys write against me.

    Its your job to moderate the comments and prevent any unpleasant interaction from happening.

  31. Q said...
     

    Wasim yaar, I haven't blamed you for initiating. Nor have I blamed you for responding to personal attacks on you.

    All I did was request you and Khansahab and others to not take part in any personal attacks on this forum.

    It has thankfully stopped now and hopefully, it will remain that way.

    Thanks.

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