Shaheen Shah Afridi – The best star in the making?
Shaheen Shah Afridi has been one of the best prominent figures in Pakistan cricket team since he first débuted on April 3, 2018. Steadily he is getting better and more vital to Pakistan’s cricket future. In this context, the following points depicts why Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) should give special attention to this youngster:
Player of the day – Shaheen Shah Afridi best bowling
Age
Born on 6 April, 2000 he is only older than Naseem Shah and Musa Khan whom are yet to establish their position in Pakistan’s cricket team. Currently being less than 21 years of age, Shaheen Shah Afridi has become an essential component of Pakistan cricket team. Considering average fast bowler’s age to be around 34 or 35, he still has at least 13 to 14 years of career ahead of him.
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Shaheen Shah Afridi could become one of Pakistan’s best bowlers of all-time.
A rare gem and talent.
Shaheen Afridi best bowling PSL
Shaheen Shah Afridi Best – Part of all formats
With Muhammad Amir and Wahab Riaz’s bidding farewell to the Test cricket, Shaheen Shah Afridi’s presence becomes even more crucial. Except from Amir and Wahab, no other fast bowler has been able to establish himself in all the three formats.
Hassan Ali is another potential candidate, however he has been out of the side due to his back injury. Shaheen Shah Afridi on the other hand is a permanent appearing figure in all the formats and he has been at his best in the last two years.
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New Ball Bowler
While Muhammad Abbas leads Pakistan’s bowling attack in test and Muhammad Amir in one-days and T20s, Shaheen Shah Afridi is the dominant choice for the opening bowling pair for Pakistan along with these bowlers. Moreover, his height of 6 feet and 6 inch along with his ability to ball around 90mph gives his bowling an extra edge.
Shaheen Afridi best bowling Pakistan v Afghanistan
Shaheen Shah Afridi – Best Performances
The reason for his eminence in such a short duration of two years and few months has been because of his exceptional performances in various formats. Few of them are mentioned below:
- Three wickets against Australia just in his 2nd T20 after his debut.
- Back to back 4 wickets take in his 4th and 5th ODI game against New Zealand.
- Sound performance in the World Cup 2019 especially against Bangladesh where he took 6 wickets and was the only bowler from Pakistan who was awarded player of the match award in the 2019 World Cup.
- Four wickets in four balls against Middlesex in Vitality Blast. In this game, he took 6 wickets overall.
- Recently he took five wicket haul twice out of the four games he played in national T20 cup in Pakistan.
Summary
Pakistan is known for its fast bowlers. Imran, Waqar, Waseem, Shoaib, Amir, Asif and many more, each decade has seen arrival of exceptional fast bowlers to the international cricket from Pakistan.
While Naseem Shah and Muhammad Husnain do look promising, Shaheen Shah Afridi due to his exceptional performances and ample talent looks to be the bowler leading the fast bowling department in the next generation Pakistani cricket side.
Shaheen Shah Afridi is one of the best bowlers that Pakistan has. He could well go on to dominate. Shaheen has the ability to thrive in all three formats.
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Aptly Put 👍
Thankyou.
He has has been extraordinary in many games but also been very expensive in shorter formats. He was smashed badly in England recently. No doubt with exceptional pace and the height he has, he creates havoc for the batsmen in the crease but yet he has to work more on his lines and lengths to prove himself.
Well pointed out!
SSA is new talent that can become aomethjng even bigger after being properly trained and given opportunities.
Nice article with interesting details for someone like me who isnt a cricket geek.
He looks committed to learn, and that is imperative for achieving brilliance.