Full name : Sahibzada Mohammad
Shahid Khan Afridi
Born : March 1, 1980, Khyber AgencyOf Shahid Afridi it can safely be said that
cricket never has and never will see another like him. To say he is an
allrounder is to say Albert Einstein was a scientist; it tells a criminally bare
story. For a start, the slant of his all-round skills only became clear ten
years into his career; he is a leg-spinning allrounder. Variety is his calling
and as well as a traditional leg-break, he has two googlies, a conventional
offie and a lethal faster one, though this is increasingly rare. All come with
the threat of considerable, late drift. He fairly hustles through overs, which
in limited-over formats is a weapon in itself and the package is dangerous.
But forever associated with him will be his madcap batting, the prospect of
which is a crowd-puller the world over. He is a compulsive basher, literally
unable to control his urges to slog every ball that comes his way, and not much
of it is classical. Often spectacular results are at hand; he owns, for example,
two of the fastest ODI hundreds, including the fastest one ever in his first
innings ever at the age of 16. His career strike rates are nearly unmatched. But
mostly, anywhere in the order, consistency has been missing.
Despite a healthy Test career, he gave up on the format in 2006, pre-empting men
such as Andrew Flintoff, to maximise fully a limited-overs career. Twenty20 is
something he could've been made for and he is probably the most lethal player of
the format, having been player of the tournament for the inaugural edition of
the World Twenty20 in 2007 and led Pakistan to the title two years later with
matchwinning all-round hands in the semi and final. Maturity has often
threatened to gatecrash his career and leadership is a just reward, but it will
not change much in a truly unique career.