ISLAMABAD: Hours after Argentina’s star footballer Lionel Messi’s announcement of retirement from international football following his team’s defeat in Copa America final, Pakistanis started mocking cricketer Shahid Afridi through Twitter.
The 29-year-old, five-time FIFA world footballer of the year was left devastated after suffering yet another traumatic near-miss with Argentina in the Copa America Centenario on Sunday. The suddenness of his departure though startling, begins to make sense when the context of his decision is taken into consideration.
Based on the same argument, cricket fans from Pakistan took to micro-blogging platform to ask when all-rounder Afridi who resumed playing for his national cricket team despite retiring from the international cricket several times will finally hang up his boots.
Former skipper hinted at his announcement after Pakistan’s disastrous performance in Asia Cup and ICC World T20. But the cricketer hasn’t spoken about his retirement ever since. The 36-year-old Afridi made his international cricket debut way back in 1996 against Kenya in an ODI in Nairobi. So far he has played 27 Tests, 398 ODIs and 96 T20Is.
