WT20: Hafeez defends ‘irresponsible’ Afridi

Colombo: Pakistan Twenty20 captain Mohammad Hafeez has defended all rounder Shahid Afridi following his dull performance during their World Cup semifinal defeat against Sri Lanka on Thursday.

Afridi played a poor shot to be bowled out on the first delivery he faced against Rangana Herath with Pakistan struggling during their chase of 140 runs for a place in Sunday`s final Hafeez said Afridi is out of form but he gave everything for the team throughout the World Cup. “He is a match winner, there is no doubt about his abilities. But I think... he is really in a bad form at the moment,” Hafeez was quoted as saying by a website. “He`s really worked hard in the whole tournament, but unfortunately things didn`t work for him. I can understand as a captain, as a player, when things don`t work for you,” he added. “But he is a character, he is always a hard-worker and I think he is trying to come out of it (which) is a positive sign for us as a team. So that`s the reason we have given him all the chances,” he said. The popular cricketer scored just 30 runs in five innings and took only four wickets with his leg-spin bowling in six matches. ANI