Thursday, December 1, 2011

Afridi - What a Champion!

So why didn't Shahid Afridi celebrate any of his 5 wickets today against Bangladesh in the manner that he does?

The feet were not spread, the hands were not raised, the fingers did not point to the skies.

I wonder why.

Afridi was so nonchalant about his 5 wicket haul today that it seemed like he was playing with kids in his neighbourhood park.

Not that there was no reason to celebrate.

Afridi's 7th 5-wicket haul in ODIs put him past Wasim Akram and level with Glenn McGrath on the list for most 5-wicket hauls in ODI cricket. Now only Brett Lee (9), Muralitharan (10), and Waqar Younis (13) have more 5-wicket hauls in ODI cricket than Afridi.

If being the 3rd highest ODI wicket taker for your country was not enough, Afridi is now also the bowler with the 2nd most 5-wicket hauls in ODIs for Pakistan.

What a Champion!

Wait, there's more.

Afridi is currently 9th on the list of all time ODI wicket takers. He needs 5 more to over take Anil Kumble and move to number 8. On current form, this might happen in the next ODI itself.

But whenever the inevitable happens, Afridi will go on to become the leading leg spinner in the world of ODI cricket.

That is some feat for Boom Boom!


With 333 ODI wickets, Afridi is 83 wickets away from Waqar Younis' tally of 416. Besides Brett Lee, all the other bowlers between Afridi and Waqar are retired, so that tally of 416 is pretty much within Afridi's sights.

That will not only make him the 2nd highest ODI wicket taker for his country, but also place him on the 3rd spot for all time ODI wicket takers.

Another 201 for top spot? Now will take some doing.

Make your pitch on this post...



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3 Pitched:

  1. Abdullah said...
     

    It’s all good being the best ODI and T20 bowler or all rounder in the world, but never will one be taken seriously as a top brand cricketer when he has barely achieved any ground breaking stats in test cricket and moreover has a cowardice attitude towards playing it which is a reflection of the lack of skill, discipline, mental strength, match awareness, confidence and temperament to play it. Afridi only has 48 test wickets in 27 tests which are just merely above what can be expected from a part time bowler. Furthermore, even in ODIs the last time I checked he averaged above 40 runs per wicket against non minnow sides.

  2. Abdullah said...
     

    Nonetheless he has been tremendous with the ball this year and has formed a lethal and reliable spin attack with the unorthodox variations of Saeed Ajmal and nagging trajectories of Mohammad Hafeez. Generally Afridi is a tidy bowler in the middle overs, although he is less superior to Saeed Ajmal and marginally more threatening than Mohammad Hafeez. Between them they can give you 30 overs fairly economical overs going for around 130 with 5 or 6 wickets combined for Misbah. Undoubtedly the best LOI spin attack going….

  3. chandru said...
     

    There's no denying the Afridi has been on par with his bowling this year.A true all-rounder with the bat and ball only if he could lessen his ego.

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