Pakistan Cricket Captain-Shahid Khan Afridi
Shahid Afridi is Pathan by blood, is a strong hitter of the ball, has an aggressive batting style and surely is one of the most dangerous players in the history of Pakistan cricket. Shahid Khan Afridi was born on 1st March 1980 in Khyber Agency of the Federally Administered Tribal Areas. He is the first from the Afridi caste to play first class cricket. In essence, he represents the tribes as well.
The right-handed batsman made his ODI debut on October 2, 1996 and hammered the ODIs history’s 37 balls fastest sensational century versus Sri Lanka in his maiden innings. He also holds the record for scoring 32 runs in a single over, which is the second highest score in an over in ODI history. His attack oriented batting style inspires the mood of cricket lovers contrary to the fact that he was introduced as a leg spinner bowler. The world-class batsman has the ability to change the tempo of the game and this quality has earned him the nick name "Boom Boom Afridi".
Afridi was brought into the team at the age of sixteen. Prior to that, he used to play domestic cricket, representing the Karachi cricket club. He made his test debut on 22 October 1998 against Australia in Karachi but he has had limited opportunity in test matches due to various reasons including his furious style. He averages over 37 with the bat and fewer than 35 with the ball in the test arena.
He loves cricket beyond any doubt and enjoys playing it. His popularity as well as fame matches no one. No one in the world of cricket plays like him. He plays his natural game regardless of the match situation as well as the pitch condition. The attacking batsman is not fearful of any one and has tremendous confidence in his God gifted quality. He is a true match winner and plays from the front.
As a bowler, Shahid Khan Afridi has also earned a lot of recognition and respect over the years. He was known as a batting all-rounder in the past, but he has won some matches with his bowling recently in One-day Internationals as well as Twenty20 Internationals. His bowling has now become an integral part in the ODI side and has proved increasingly effective during key moments of the match. Afridi has got good variations in his bowling and bowls faster as compared to a regular spin bowler. Additionally, he is also an excellent fielder, which is an important factor in present day cricket.
Shahid Khan Afridi as a person is very jolly, down to earth, friendly and simple. He has lots of friends inside as well as outside the Pakistan cricket team. He is very close to his religion as well and leaves everything beyond his control to God Almighty. He is highly inspired by the legendary cricketer Javed Miandad along with Imran Khan. Afridi has got a huge fan following all across the world. Cricket lovers are genuinely crazy about him. According to a survey, he was named as the most popular cricketer in Pakistan.
A lot of famous and great personalities all over the world have expressed their views about him. Michael holding that cricket is not cricket without Shahid Afridi gave one of the best compliments about Afridi. And truly, he is the one who always brings a lot of joy to the game of cricket.
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