Although he joined the Pakistani cricket team as a full-time leg spinner, but sheer chance, luck and faith changed his playing role from a proper leg spinner to a bowling all-rounder. His bowling credentials are way better than his batting, but cricket fans and viewers adore his aggressive batting style.
Almost all former Pakistani captains that Afridi has played under, only had one thing to say about the player that Afridi could have done and achieve a lot more, but he just never listened to anyone. Former and senior players such as Imran Khan, Rameez Raja, Wasim Akram, and Moin Khan have spoken so proudly about Afridi’s potential to do well at the international stage. And there is no doubt that on a given day, Afridi has the ability to single-handedly help any team win a match. But the sad part is that he was never given a chance to play in the test format, which ensured that he was never able to build the right temperament or level of patience.
At present, the 30-year-old is the ODI and T20 skipper of the Pakistani national team. Arguably, 5 years ago, one could have never pictured “Boom Boom” to lead the team at the national level, since based on his credentials in all formats; he had never shown the maturity and the cricketing sense to be a leader. However, based on his aggressive cricketing style, experts and senior players thought that maybe a combination of responsibility and aggressiveness would bring out Afridi's real potential.
In his 14 years of international cricket, the veteran has played 298 ODI matches, scoring 6,250 runs, at a modest average of 23.85. He has 6 centuries and 30 half-centuries to his credit, with a personal best of 124 runs to his credit. Afridi has a massive collection of 280 ODI wickets, at a bowling average of 34.88 runs. He also has 3 five-wicket hauls, with a best of 6 for 38.
The reason for Afridi’s inability to captain Pakistan in the longer version of the game, is due to his temperament and the mere fact that he has never put up with captaining the test side for long, since according to him, it doesn’t suit his cricketing style. He has played 27 test matches, scoring 1,716 runs at an average of 37.40 runs. The master blaster has 5 centuries and 8 half-centuries to his credit, with a best of 156 runs in a single innings. He has a handful of 48 wickets in test cricket, at an average of 35.60 with best bowling figures of 5 for 52.
Shahid Afridi is one of the most blessed natural cricketers one would ever come across. However, one can only hope that the captaincy role will force him to alter his cricketing style and develop a mature approach towards the game.
Nevertheless, Afridi’s leadership was extremely commendable in the recent ODI series in the controversial tour of England; post the spot-fixing controversy. Afridi handled the team with utmost maturity, as he led from the front and concentrated in playing as a team.
One can hope for the best that Afridi can become the leader that his fans want him to be, not to forget, the country needs Afridi to bring back cricketing glory back to Pakistan.
