Top 5 memorable performances by Shahid Afridi

Shahid Afridi

Sahibzada Mohammad Shahid Khan Afridi is an enigma of massive proportions. A flamboyant, maverick cricketer who burst on to the scene as a raw 16-year-old in 1996, the tall Pathan has been the darling of Pakistan fans for over a decade now.

He’s fought hard to cement his place in the team, despite all the controversies that have dogged him through much of his playing career. But at 33, Afridi remains the biggest draw for Pakistan cricket fans all around the world.

Afridi has achieved phenomenal success with both bat and ball – he started out as a leg-spinner, replacing the injured Mushtaq Ahmed. Some of the best moments in his career are listed below:

1. 102 runs off 40 balls and 1/43 in 10 overs (Pakistan vs Sri Lanka, Nairobi, October 1996)

This was the innings that catapulted the young man to instant stardom. Coming in at the fall of Saleem Elahi’s wicket with the total on 60, Afridi proceeded to play a blistering knock as he hammered the Sri Lankan bowlers all over the park.

He was particularly severe on all-rounder Sanath Jayasuriya, who watched helplessly as the teenage sensation took him to the cleaners, clobbering 28 runs in one of his overs. Such was his onslaught that between themselves, Jayasuriya and spin great Muttiah Muralitharan conceded 167 runs while sharing five wickets; the former’s 3/94 remained one of the most expensive figures in ODI history.

In all, Afridi belted six fours and a then-record eleven sixes as Pakistan posted a mammoth 371/9, with Afridi reaching his hundred in just 37 balls – a record that still stands. It was the youngster’s first ever ODI innings although he made his debut in the game against Kenya, where he didn’t bat and went wicketless.

He rounded off a spectacular batting performance with the wicket of SL skipper Arjuna Ranatunga for 52. A magnificent performance from the young Pathan!

2. 108 not out off 92 balls (Pakistan vs New Zealand, Sharjah, April 2002)

After Wasim Akram and Saqlain Mushtaq ripped apart the Kiwi line-up for just 213, Pakistan mounted a strong reply through their openers. Afridi, unusually, played a somewhat sedate innings, but he still managed to blast eight sixes and seven fours in a calculated assault on the NZ bowlers – particularly Scott Styris and leg-spinner Brooke Walker.

In the two overs that Styris sent down, Afridi slammed four sixes without a fuss. His third ODI hundred thus achieved, the batsman finished off the game with a lofted boundary and earned an 8-wicket win for his side with almost 18 overs to spare.

This performance showed that Afridi was a player who could score runs in singles too instead of completely relying on power-hitting.

3. 6/38 in 10 overs and 24 runs off 16 balls (Pakistan vs Australia, Dubai, April 2009)

Arguably one of Shahid’s finest all-round displays, the victory over Australia saw the Pakistani side go 1-0 up in the five-match series. Using his stock delivery, the leg-break, along with a host of slower ones and the traditional ‘quicker one’, Afridi knocked over six Aussie batsmen without breaking a sweat.

He started the slide by having Brad Haddin caught by Younis Khan for 40, then knocked over Shane Watson‘s stumps with a leg-break for an identical score. Afridi’s mix of slower and faster deliveries took out Andrew Symonds and Callum Ferguson before he castled Nathan Bracken and Stuart Clark to complete his six-wicket haul.

He then hammered five fours in 15 balls before being dismissed by Ben Hilfenhaus; however, his cameo had already laid the platform for Pakistan’s eventual win.

4. 102 runs off 45 balls (Pakistan vs India, Kanpur, April 2005)

Looks like April is Shahid’s favourite month to perform exceedingly well against the opposition. Arch-rivals India found this to their cost in the 2005 home series against the Men in Green.

In the fifth ODI, after Rana Naved-ul-Hasan ran through the much vaunted powerful lineup of the Indians, restricting them to 249, Afridi let loose a barrage of shots – clobbering ten fours and nine sixes – on the way to his fourth ODI century.

He punished all the bowlers, meting out special treatment to the seamer Lakshmipathy Balaji and spinners Anil Kumble and Dinesh Mongia. His 45-ball hundred is the joint second fastest in ODI history along with WI great Brian Lara’s. Afridi’s hurricane knock saw him add 131 for the first wicket with Salman Butt, and it eventually helped Pakistan take the game and lead the series 3-2. A thunderous performance from the then-25 year-old all-rounder!

5. 76 runs off 55 balls and 7/12 (Pakistan vs West Indies, Guyana, July 2013)

This performance ranks right up with Afridi’s scintillating debut hundred in ODI cricket 17 years ago. With pacer Jason Holder breathing fire in an inspired spell of 8-4-8-4, Pakistan were in deep trouble at 47/5. Afridi came in and changed the tone of the match with his uninhibited, incandescent power hitting that left the hosts shell-shocked.

His marauding knock was studded with six fours and five massive sixes; he hit Sunil Narine out of the attack before blowing Darren Sammy, Dwayne Bravo and Marlon Samuels away with his ferocious onslaught. Pakistan recovered from the early jitters to post 224/9 in their 50 overs.

After Mohammad Irfan’s hostile opening spell and a brilliant run-out from skipper Misbah-ul-Haq left the Windies reeling at 7/3, Afridi shut them out of the game with his greatest ever bowling performance: his odd mixture of leg-breaks, sliders, slower ones and the occasional off-break completely demolished the batting lineup, as the hosts collapsed for just 98 runs in 41 overs.

Maverick, flamboyant and highly effective, Shahid Khan Afridi still has plenty of cricket left in him. The cricket world can never get enough of Boom Boom!