(REUTERS) – Pakistan captain Shahid Afridi will retire from Test cricket for the third time after next week’s second Test against Australia in Leeds.
Afridi, 30, who came out of a four-year self-imposed Test exile to captain his country, told a news conference yesterday he made his decision after he was caught on the boundary for two on the fourth and final day of the first Test against Australia.
Pakistan lost the match by 150 runs with a day to spare, their 13th consecutive defeat by Australia. Afridi made 31 off 15 balls in the first innings and lasted only four deliveries in the second.
“I was not interested in playing Test cricket but the cricket board just asked me,” he said. “I think my temperament is not good enough for Test cricket.
“I have a side injury; I am struggling with injury as well so I think that’s it. I will play my last Test in Leeds.”
Afridi retired from Test cricket in 2005 but came back for the 2006 series in England before retiring again. He was a member of the Twenty20 side who won the World Cup in England last year.
He was the fourth man to captain Pakistan in Test cricket since the start of last year. Pakistan play four Tests against England after the Australia series.
The Pakistan Cricket Board said it accepted Afridi’s resignation and would decide on a new captain in the next few days.
“If a player is not comfortable playing in this form of the game, we can’t force him to carry on,” PCB chairman Ijaz Butt told GEO television from London.
Former Pakistan captain Inzamam-ul-Haq criticised the PCB for installing Afridi as captain in the first place.
“Making Afridi captain when he had not played Test matches since 2006 was a wrong decision on the part of the board,” Inzamam told Reuters. “And I think the pressure of playing Test cricket after such a long time got to Afridi.