Adelaide, March 20 (GN): Misbah-ul-Haq, the brave warrior of Pakistan cricket, and crowd favourite Shahid Afridi walked away from One Day International cricket at the Adelaide Oval on Friday after their team was knocked out of the World Cup at the quarter-final stage by hosts Australia.
Both had announced before the tournament that this would be their swansong.
Misbah was applauded as he walked in for his last press conference as his country’s ODI captain.
Answering a query from Gulf News on what his feelings were on leaving one-day cricket and his message to youngsters, Misbah said: “It was really an honour for me to just represent my country and I really enjoyed my cricket. I’ve already given everything, so did Afridi too.
“My message for the youngsters is that if you really want to be there, to compete in the world, you have to really work hard. That’s what our seniors did. That’s what we learned from all our greats and I really enjoyed playing cricket with some of the greats.
“Inzamam-ul-Haq, Mohammad Yousuf, Wasim Akram, Waqar Younis — the kind of fighting spirit I’ve seen in them. I think we need to just take them as examples and if we really want to compete in the world, we have to really work hard. This is the only way up.”
Australian skipper Michael Clarke also paid rich tributes to both Misbah and Afridi when asked how it was to play with and be with them in their last one-day match.
“I think they’ve both been fantastic. Obviously they are two experienced players, great ambassadors of the game. I think Misbah has obviously led Pakistan extremely well and they’ve been really successful under his leadership.”
Clarke explained his feelings about Afridi with a smile. “What can I say about ‘Boom Boom’ Afridi? He’s one of a kind, that’s for sure. He’s an entertainer. I’ve loved playing against both of them.
“We’ve certainly had some tough challenges. I think Australia in general always enjoys the tough contests against Pakistan and I think tonight you’ve seen another great contest. Fortunately we were able to get over the line, but credit to Misbah and his team for how they played tonight, how they fought.
“We had to fight for every run to chase that 213 and I wish them both well in the future. They’ve done a lot for the game of cricket and they’re two very nice men. I congratulate them on behalf of the whole Australian team.”