Shahid Afridi announces retirement from international cricket

DUBAI - Seasoned Pakistani cricketer Shahid Afridi, better known as Boom Boom announced his retirement from international cricket on Sunday.

The former skipper announced his retirement plans after a nail-biting contest between Zalmi and Kings adding that he would continue playing PSL for his fans.

'I have already said goodbye; I am just playing this for my fans. For me, my foundation is more important. I have played for my country professionally and have done whatever I could' he said when asked about a farewell match.

'I have said this before as well, whatever cricket is left in me, I will continue playing league cricket for my fans, I am not playing these matches for any comeback to international cricket I am playing it for my fans and I am enjoying it,' asserted Afridi.

When asked about whether PCB should hold PSL final in Lahore, the 36-year-old expressed that PSL was the country's own product and so holding final in Pakistan was important.

'PSL was meant to bring back cricket to Pakistan. The final in Pakistan is very important. I hope PCB will take a good decision. This is our own product and pride. We must play the final as planned. If overseas players don’t come then final should be conducted with local players in Lahore' he said adding that he would try to convince international stars to participate in PSL final in Lahore.

The flamboyant all-rounder played his last match for Pakistan in March last year during World T20.

Since then rumours were rife that Afridi would be given a chance to play a farewell match. However, his retirement plan has now confirmed that there will be no farewell match and Afridi would be terminating his career at 398 ODI's.

Afridi had under his belt a mere 27 Test matches in which he scored 1176 runs with a highest knock of 156 runs. He took 48 wickets in Test format.

His ODI stats are slightly better where he scored 8,064 runs, with a highest score of 124. He falls short of 5 wickets to secure an overall 400 total wickets. He shot to fame with his 37-ball century, the fastest one (till 2014) against Sri-Lanka back in 1996.

His T20 career was also brief as he played 98 matches with 1405 runs and 97 wickets.

During his 21-year long career, Afridi always managed to seetlady luck smiling on him as he remained the most sought-after star of his masses despite controversies.