Everyone loves Afridi...

[Asim]

"Everyone loves Afridi. He has been grossly misunderstood. In the beginning we thought he was a complete cricketer meant for all types of cricket. It took us 10 years to realize that he was actually fit for ODIs. Five years later we understood that he is really tailor made for T20s only. Now we know that he can actually be used as an example for young budding cricketers of how cricket should not be played.

In 1996 we thought he is a batsman who can bowl a bit. In 2006 we realized that in fact he is a bowler who can bat a bit. In 2013 we came to know that he is actually a "bit" who can neither bat nor bowl.

He is extremely talented. Among the batsmen of his caliber, he has the highest strike rate in ODIs. Other batsmen of his caliber are Murli Dharan, Danish Kaneria, Dilip Joshi and Abdul Qadir.

He is so tough that he eats cricket balls like cherry. Some say he actually took it literally when umpire threw the ball to him asking him to catch the cherry. Even the monsters like Joel Garner, Patrick Patterson and Merv Hughes could not dare pull such a stunt in front of live crowd. However, he showed every sign that he is a quick learner. After spending Fifteen years in international cricket, that fateful day, he actually learned that changing the shape of ball using teeth is not taken favorably in front of the crowd. He never repeated that feat again.

He holds the world record of playing least number of balls for anyone who has played more than 350 ODIs. As a matter of fact he has played less number of balls than the ODIs he has played.

There is no better site than seeing a crowd going berserk as Shahid Afridi enters the ground with chants of Boom Boom resounding in every corner of the stadium. Most of the time exactly after one ball it is followed by camera shot of wide eyed, open mouthed fans, with their tongues hanging outside, resting both of their hands on their heads while Afridi returns to the dressing room among hushed silence to finish his remaining cup of still hot tea. Our lovely crowd has repeated the above act hundreds of time and both Afridi and crowd have never disappointed each other in this act.

For a small patch (which lasted for around 15 years) Afridi struggled to find his batting form. But our people never gave up on him. We usually give new governments 100 days and democracy a couple of years before we lose patience but our love for Afridi is eternal. Most of us still believe that he is still learning and one day he'll silence all his critics.

As a batsman, he is the opposing captain's nightmare. If any team fails to get him out in three balls, captain of the team has to submit a written report to the board explaining and justifying the reasons for the delay. If they fail to get him out within a couple of overs a judicial commission is put in place.

In the cricketing world getting Afridi out in three balls is considered the minimum qualification for any bowler or captain to justify their spot in the team. This is called the Laala test and rumor is that almost anyone who has played cricket for three consecutive days should be able to pass this test.

Afridi is an enigma. Some people say that he is a spin bowler who bowls very fast. Others say that he is actually a fast bowler who bowls too slow.

But we love him because just like our nation he is passionate, naive, bent on not learning from his mistakes and hitting in the air year after year hoping against hope that this time it won't be caught.
Regards";

:Nasir Minhas
https://www.facebook.com/nasirminhas44?fref=photo

[Stuge]

He is not fit for any cricket..period

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[Adi_91]

He is not fit to be called a LEGEND. An ordinary cricketer imo.

[Ultimate_Game]

Sadly Afridi's days are over. I will miss him 

[mishra]

20 years down the line, We will have this article featured again all it need is minor edit i.e replace each occurrence of Afridi with Sir Jadeja

Edited March 21, 2016 by mishra

[Nash]

Afridi is like expired dated aspirin pill. I better to have headache than expired dated aspirin. Everybody loves him or not. He has passed his date now and playing on borrowed time. 

[Rightarmfast]

20 years down the line, We will have this article featured again all it need is minor edit i.e replace each occurrence of Afridi with Sir Jadeja

Sir Jadeja neither has Afridi's looks nor his destructive batting talent. In 10 yrs, we wont know who Jadeja is

[putrevus]

The words like talent and great are used very loosely by Pakistanis, they always overrate themselves especially their bowling which is very ordinary.

Edited March 21, 2016 by putrevus

[Adi_91]

Sir Jadeja neither has Afridi's looks nor his destructive batting talent. In 10 yrs, we wont know who Jadeja is

If swinging the bat without using something that is inside his head is considered to be destructive, I think we have a wrong metric for measuring destructive batting.

He has the record for most ducks in World Twenty20. LOL.

[kosingh]

Seems like a very likeable friendly guy who always has a smile on his face. But a good cricketer he is not!

[Asim]

Afridi has ruined a generation of Pakistani batsmen

[putrevus]

Afridi has ruined a generation of Pakistani batsmen

That is ridiculous,It is foolishness Pakistani fans and board to make him a superstar.He is a bowler who could chance his arm with bat and on his day he can make any bowler look bad but to make him captain and superstar is fault of Pakistani media/board/fans.

It is moronic to blame him for the lack of quality batsman.

 

[sandeep]

The Jadeja comparisons  are very apt.  Their ODI numbers are similar except for Afridi's batting strike rate is higher while Jadeja's batting average is higher.  Difference is Jadeja is a gun fielder, and is constantly on the bubble, will be promptly dropped from the team given a better alternative, while Afraidi is a "legund".  That just shows the mindset of cricket in the two countries - and that's not just the fan base, its also the cricket establishment.  

[vijay50]

Recently , I watched match analysis of Ind-Pak match, in which Brian Lara mentioned that he does not consider Afridi as a proper spinner and he is more like filler.

We all know that Afridi is not a good batsman either.

Wonder how he managed to play 20 years. Afridi is like a stale smelly food , the bad smell of which does not go away and linger for long time. The only option is to throw away such food.

[Asim]

That is ridiculous,It is foolishness Pakistani fans and board to make him a superstar.He is a bowler who could chance his arm with bat and on his day he can make any bowler look bad but to make him captain and superstar is fault of Pakistani media/board/fans.

It is moronic to blame him for the lack of quality batsman.

 

Kids will follow the steps of whoever nationally been considered as a 'hero'... Bowlers following Akram and Waqar vs Batsmen following Afridi (instead of Inzi or Yousuf) will definitely not produce same quality... but yeah obv its not Afridi to be blamed as in personally...

[Autonomous]

Clearly he stayed this long due to advertising and his fame as some sort of star. Otherwise he is only a galli mohalla player

[Debutant]

I hope Afridi plays for Pakistan for another 2 decades  

[Autonomous]

I hope Afridi plays for Pakistan for another 2 decades  

I hope not.

[Lala]

Iam a legend  lala naam hai mera 

[Rightarmfast]

If swinging the bat without using something that is inside his head is considered to be destructive, I think we have a wrong metric for measuring destructive batting.

He has the record for most ducks in World Twenty20. LOL.

Hmmm... Afridi is roughly my age and I have followed his career. When he had started off, he was phenomenal.And he was a typhoonin test matches too. On his day, he certainly can be destructive.