Shahid Afridi May Retire After PSL 2022

Shahid Afridi looks set to finally call time on his playing career, strongly suggesting next year’s season at the Pakistan Super League will be his last.

Shahid Afridi, who is currently with Multan Sultans and spent two seasons at Peshawar Zalmi and one at Karachi Kings, expressed a desire to represent a fourth franchise, Quetta Gladiators, in his final season.

Shahid Afridi suggested he may finally call it a day AFP/Getty Images

Shahid Afridi Last Played For Pakistan More Than 5 Years Ago But Has Continued To Play In The PSL Since Its Inception

Shahid Afridi last played international cricket for Pakistan more than five years ago in 2016 but has continued to take part in the PSL ever since its inception well into his forties.  In his international career, he scored 11,196 runs with 11 centuries and 51 half-centuries. He also picked up 541 wickets at the highest level with 10 five-wicket hauls.

“Maybe this ends up being my last PSL,” Shahid Afridi told reporters. “I would like to play for Quetta Gladiators this season, provided Multan allows me to leave. If Nadeem Omar and Quetta’s owners want to have me, I would love to represent them.”

Shahid Afridi played in 27 Tests, 398 ODIs, and 99 T20Is for Pakistan.© AFP

He captained Peshawar Zalmi in the first season and was part of the team that won the title the following year. His current franchise, Multan Sultans, are the defending champions, having beaten Peshawar Zalmi in the final in June. Shahid Afridi played a part in the first half of this year’s edition before missing the UAE leg with a back injury.

Shahid Afridi, however, who played four times for Multan Sultans during the Karachi leg of the tournament, wasn’t available for the UAE leg after suffering the injury during training. Shahid Afridi retired from international cricket back in 2016 but continued to play league cricket mostly in Pakistan.

He has won the PSL with Peshawar Zalmi in his second season at the franchise, and also played a minor role for the Multan Sultans when they won the trophy last year.

Shahid Afridi Has Been One Of The Most Successful All-rounders In PSL

In case Shahid Afridi retires next season, he would walk away from the Pakistan Super League as one of its most successful all-rounders. To date, Shahid Afridi has 44 wickets in 50 Pakistan Super League games at an economy rate of 6.97. That places him eighth on the all-time list; no one who has taken more wickets and conceded fewer than seven runs per over.

While he has been relatively less successful with the bat, he has still had an impact. His 465 runs have come at a strike rate of 153.46 – only Kieron Pollard (166.24), Luke Ronchi (166.12), and Asif Ali (164.29) top that for those with at least 30 innings. Babar Azam tops the list of highest run-getters with 2070 runs in 58 PSL matches. Kamran Akmal with 1820 runs is 2nd on the list.

Wahab Riaz. Image-Sky Sports

Amongst bowlers, Wahab Riaz tops the list with 94 wickets while the likes of Hasan Ali -72 scalps, Faheem Ashraf, and Mohammed Nawaz-55 scalps each, Mohammed Amir-54 scalps, Sohail Tanvir-53 scalps, and Shaheen Shah Afridi-50 scalps are amongst bowlers with 50 or more wickets in the PSL.

The 2022 Pakistan Super League will take place in January and February after it was moved to an earlier window to avoid a clash with the Indian Premier League and squeeze in a tour by Australia.

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