http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Shahid-Ali-Khan-c89356 Afridi - the maddest of mad maxes - Part 2 - Opinion
Continued from Part 1...
The 45-ball century that he notched up at Kanpur against India was one of those rare innings of brutality. Afridi may have been witnessing a dramatic decline in the mid 2000’s, yet he continued to impress on one odd occasion, especially against India. The
Indian bowlers were annihilated in 2005 on a turning wicket, and the scars of that innings are embedded in the minds of http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Anil-Kumble-c44737 even to this date. Ironically for conformists, Afridi’s only defensive shot in that innings triggered his dismissal,
and despite him falling short of another mammoth score in ODI cricket, the damage had been done. Pakistan was victorious, delirious and unstoppable as http://www.senore.com/Cricket/India-c750 succumbed to a deflating defeat. Afridi was the difference in the end.
Those performances were jaw dropping, mind boggling and simply astonishing to say the least, yet they reveal little about Afridi’s average of 23.40 in as many as 348 ODIs, that he has played for his country. It is thus, a unique career and an extravagant
one at that. The strike rate of 113.77 is the icing on the cake for his fans, making him one of the most explosive players in ODI cricket. Yet there are times when the call of duty and the weight of expectancy for him to perform have gotten the better out
of him, and he has disappointed by playing a rash stroke. Rashness however, had not been limited to what happened on the field only, as he had been embroiled in several controversies, such as decimating the Faisalabad pitch in 2005, or eating the ball for
it to swing more in an ODI encounter at Perth against http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Australia-c746. Then came the captaincy stint, where he had to bear the brunt of a faltering campaign, only for him to revitalize the team and help them storm into the semi finals of the 2011 Cricket World Cup.
An untoward low followed, as Afridi’s terrible stroke, off a full toss by http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Pakistan-c755 in tatters and any hint of renaissance bordered on the preposterous in that game.
His bowling however has always been amazingly consistent. The leg break, off break, straighter one and the cannon ball are deployed with such ease and sting by Afridi, that opposition batsmen are often left bamboozled over what has hit them. He is one of
the best T20 bowlers in the world and his ability to master the shortest version of the game coincides with his fifty over exploits with the ball. His tally of 348 wickets in ODI cricket at an average of 34 stands in stark contrast to his paltry batting average
and explosive strike rate. When he bowls, he bowls briskly, and is a key partnership breaker for his country. Add to that his amazing fielding skills, off his own bowling and in the covers, and he becomes indispensable to the team despite his poor showing
with the bat.
Cricket will thus never see another player like Afridi. He is brute, brash, yet brilliant to watch. His warrior like approach and penchant for performing well, along with his occasional outbursts on the field, often cloud the contributions that Afridi has
made to cricket. For Pakistanis however, he is a star and will go down as a legend, even if his record does not do justice to his tag. That is exactly, what the Afridi story is truly all about.
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