Page 47 - JPGS Magazine

SHAHID AFRIDI - A

CRICKETING LEGEND

I would like to take you back to 1996, Kenya. That’s when a star was born. His name is Shahid
Afridi. It was October 4th when Afridi who was merely 16 years old, stepped into a cricket
ground in Kenya against Sri Lanka. He was not even prepared to play this match. This young

boy managed to set a new world record that stood strong for 18 years. He belted 11 sixes and
6 fours in 37-balls. This was the fastest ever One Day International century. A record that

stood for 18 years until it was broken on January 1st in 2014 by CJ Anderson from New
Zealand. However, it is interesting to note that he was selected in the team as a bowler who
can bat. This innings proved that he was an all-rounder, but time has shown that to say he is

an all-rounder is to say that Albert Einstein was a scientist.
This innings alone is not the only reason I consider him a legend. He has entertained cricket
followers for more than 20 years. It is not the number of runs he has scored, but the manner in

which he has scored them, is unique He has hit over 500 sixes in international cricket matches
– this is a world record. He has also taken over 500 wickets in international cricket and for
years, has been one of the finest fielders in the Pakistan team. He even went on to captain

Pakistan in all three formats of international cricket: tests, ODIs and T20s. He is in the top 5
to win the most man of the match awards. But his biggest achievement was in the second ever
T20 world cup semi-final and final where he carried the whole Pakistan team on his shoulders

and won the world cup for them. He was man of the match in the semi-final as well as in the
final.
He was a genius of a player but he was not consistent in making runs and taking wickets. He

used to frustrate all his followers, including me, but I still like him because he used to bring life
into a losing game. He is an entertaining player. Shahid Afridi has already announced
retirement from test and one day cricket and he is on the edge of retiring from T20 as well. I

think we will all agree that we will never ever see such a unique cricket player again. About
Shahid Afridi, it can be safely said, that cricket never has and never will see another like him.

By Bilal Faisal