Afridi's T20 WC Jersey to be displayed at Lord's Museum

Flamboyant Pakistan all-rounder Shahid Afridi's World Twenty20 jersey will soon find a rack at the historic Lord's Museum in London as MCC has requested the cricketer to donate his shirt for display.

Afridi was instrumental in Pakistan's World T20 victory in England as he was adjudged Man-of-the-Match in both the semi-final and final of the showpiece tournament last month.

"The MCC recently contacted me and requested to send the shirt to them which I will do shortly. But it is a big honour for me and my country to have the shirt displayed at such an historic museum," Afridi said.

The Lord's Museum displays kits of some of the greatest names in world cricket including legendary Australian Donald Bradman, Victor Trumper, Shane Warne, Jack Hobbs.

The museum, established in 1883, also houses the famed 'Ashes' urn that set off one of the most famous cricket battles between England and Australia.

In the past only few Pakistan cricketers have had the honour of putting of their playing kits on display at the museum which is visited every year by thousands of cricket fans.

Jahangir Khan, father of former Pakistan captain Majid, had killed a sparrow while bowling at the ground in 1936. That ball is still displayed at the museum.

Afridi criticises ICC for T20 WC next year, ignoring his Show

Pakistan star all-rounder Shahid Afridi has criticised the ICC for holding the next Twenty20 World Cup just nine months later and ignoring him for the
`Player of the Tournament` award.

Afridi, who was instrumental in Pakistan`s T20 World Cup triumph in England, said the ICC`s decision to hold third edition of the tournament in 2010 has left the team with very
little time to celebrate their victory.

"There is just no proper gap between the two tournaments for us to enjoy our victory. I don`t know why the ICC has done this, but to me it seems cricket today is more like a business than a sport," Afridi, who won the man-of-the-match award in both the semifinal and final, said on his return home today.

The 29-year-old all-rounder also admitted that inspite of his stellar performances in the T20 World Cup, he was little disappointed at not winning the player of the tournament award.

Although Afridi was the star for Pakistan in both the semifinal and final against South Africa and Sri Lanka with back-to-back half centuries and wickets, Tillekaratne Dilshan bagged the award with his commendable show with the bat.

"I was not expecting them (ICC) to ignore me for the player of the tournament award. I had scored over 160 runs and taken 11 wickets. My fielding was also top class and I was surprised when I didn`t win this award," he said.