Alright, my turn:
Afridi is fabulous. Why do we like him? Same reasons we like India or England. The personalities clash, from friendly and amiable people, to downright low down and do-anything-to-win kinds, to charming to cunning and sly. Afridi is all of these, his personality draws you into wanting to listen to him, into watching him bowl and field, chattering with the batters. He could sledge you one minute, run to your aid the next, then scuff up the pitch or ball and claim innocence. In this day and age of walking and polietness and fining for over-appealing, he is a breath of fresh air to watch. He also brings in enthusiasm, never shutting up in the field, consistantly clapping, and sometimes he just looks cool and unruffled, like King Viv or Steve Waugh, like he has everything in control, to nonchalent and almost unamused by what's going on, like he has better things to do. He's a mixed bag.
Then you go to his batting. it's fabulous. Again, comparisions with your favourite team. Heck, he symbolises Pakistan for christs sake. Brilliant, talented, stunning and marvellous to ugly, ungamely, horrid, and downirght frustrating. His batting is fantastic, effortless, so brilliant and amazing to watch when on form. But at the same time, you feel he is wasting away, doesn't care about the team's situation, just playing for himself or would rather be elsewhere. That's what makes him great to watch, he may get out for a duck, but then club and 25 ball century the next.
Now lets look at the brainless aspect. The fact that people say he is selfish, stupid, incapable of doing nothing but slogging.
Did you know, he always wanted to just bat at 5, build an innings, and bowl some spin? That's what he wanted his role to be. But look at the decade or so he has given to Pakistani circket. He has batted everywhere, from opening to all the way down at 9. He has never got a specific spot in the team. He isn't either the allrounder, or the spin bowler, or the batsman who bowls a bit. He's all 3. No consistency. But if you look at his stats when he gets to bat at 5 and play the role he wants, they are better than his career. Just recently his outbursts of "No, I will not open!" are due to all the frustration he has stored up over the years. He has given everything he had, but has been in and out, up and down, round and round, etc.
Bob Woolmer promised him he could be who he wants. It hasn't come true. He had a consistent spot for a while in Australia and did brilliantly. THen, he got shuffled up and down, and now is dropped.
All his years he has given everything to the team, it's about time he got something back. So he is not selfish.
So why does he slog so much? Why play idiotic, brain-dead shots?
He has admitted, everytime, he walks out to bat, he wants to play a long knock. He says to himself, "I'll bat out the first 10, 15, asses the pitch, then go after the ball". But when he gets out there, he loses it! he loves the game, he loves what he does. He can't help himself, he just gets the adrenaline pumping. He is a crowd pleaser, and seeing all the people, cheering for him, he feels and wants to gie them waht they want. Call that irresponsible, but it is part of the Afridi package. After all, to him, it's just a game, and that's what is his most appealing aspect. Because despite all the shuffles up and down, all the criticism, all the pressure, all the offield dram, when he walks out and takes guard, or goes out to field, he wants to have fun. The crowd wants to have fun. We play cricket to have fun. And in this age of technological analysis, jam-packed tours, and mental breakdowns, to see a cricketer who bats with all the entusiasm of a little kid and treats the game for what it is -a game-, one who wants to entertain fans all over, it's rare. That is Afridi. Fantastic and complex guy, fantstic and complex cricketer. He is immensely talented, and by God it's great to watch him. He is just a marvellous guy, marvellous cricketer. He epitomizes what cricket is. The ups, the downs, the scandals, the brilliance. He has all that romance of cricket to him, that school-boy dream at 16, that vicious scandal, the off-field incidents, yet the match winning innings, the crowd pleaser, the one that brings people all over the world to watch him. He's brilliant, he's Afridi.
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