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Shahid Afridi – One of best All-Rounders in ODI Cricket!

Faiza — Thu, 03 Mar 2011 20:23:43 +0000

Who would have though that 5-6 years ago lebelled as an average player with both bat and bowl will be known as one of the best Allrounders to have played the game. It looks like a optimistic or overboard statement but the facts and stats will describe the scenario where we can see and judge his records as the one of the best Limited over cricket player and what is to be noted we all know he could have and should have done better in his career. But taking into his current career record we can see he is one of the best out there.

Full Name: Shahid Khan Afridi

Born: March 1, 1980, Khyber Agency

Age: Almost 31

Plays as an Allrounder

Right-Hand Batsman

Bowls Legbreak googlies

Shahid Afridi in a League of his own
6000 runs and 300 wickets: Afridi is the second player only after the Sanath Jaysuriya to have gone past 300 ODI Wickets + 6000 Runs in ODI Cricket and with only 31 years of age and physicaly very fit I ca see him getting to 8000 Runs + 400 Wickets if he can play around 4 more years.
3rd leading wicket-taker from Pakistan
Shahid Afridi (301 wickets): Afridi is 3rd only to the greats of Pakistan Wasim and Waqar to have gone past 300 Wickets and if he can play the way he is currently playing he might get closer to Waqar.
4th leading Spinner with Most wickets to his Name
Only Muralitharan(522), Anil Kumble(337) and Sanath Jayasuria(322) are the bowlers who have more wickets in ODI cricket than Shahid Afridi.
3rd in the List of Most man of the match awards for Pakistan

He has more Man of the match awards than Wasim & Waqar, and with 23 to his name only Inzamam and Saeed Anwar have more man of the match awards than Shahid Afridi.
Most Sixes in Limited over Cricket
Well this is the record whcih had to go to Shahid Afridi as he is known for his massive shots and sixes and he has more sixes to his name than any other cricketer ever, with 366 over all in all formates of the game while 288 in ODI cricket, 26 in T20’s which makes him the King of Sixes.
Fastest Centuries and Fifties
Afridi’s name comes up three times in the top 6 fastest Centuries, while he also hit fifties on 18 balls twice while his strike rate in ODI cricket is more than anyone else with 113.
Best Bowling Figures by a Captain in World Cups
Afridi’s 5/16 against Kenya: Afridi started out his 2011 World Cup 2011 campaign in a great fashion and tore Kenya batting lineup apart with 5/16 which happens to be the best bowling figures by a Captain in World Cups he replaced kapil Dev as the Top dog.

Now the the top Leading bowlers of the World cup 2011 are Shahid Khan Afridi and Mitchell Johnson from Australia.

Shahid Afridi – 3 Matches/14 Wickets

Mitchell Johnson – 2 Matches/8 Wickets

Source

Download the ICC World Cup 2011 Schedule

Saeed — Wed, 23 Feb 2011 06:22:48 +0000

For all our cricket fans out there , the ICC World Cup 2011 schedule is now available for download. You may download it either as an image or as a PDF file.

To download, simply right click a link and press “Save Link As”.

ICC World Cup Schedule | PNG Image [820 KB]
ICC World Cup Schedule | PDF Document [2.39 MB]

Cricket at last!

Jehanzeb — Mon, 22 Jun 2009 16:23:33 +0000

I was in the break-out room of our Mobilink office with dozens of colleagues huddled round the big TV screen watching the T20 WC final. The match was well poised but at a very critical juncture. Pakistan just lost its skipper Shoaib Malik and with an ever-increasing required rate the match was tilting slightly into India’s favour. There was a huge roar as soon as the new Pakistani batsman stepped onto the field, it was for none other than Shahid Khan Afridi, ‘the boom boom Afridi’.

People pinned their hopes on him, including myself though reluctantly. But my worst fears came true as on the very first delivery he faced from Irfan Pathan, he tried to hit him over the mid-on fielder but instead lofted it high enough to be caught & bowled for a first ball duck. Though, people do blame Misbah’s paddle sweep for the loss in Twenty20 final at the hands of India in 2007 but for me, it was Afridi, who was equally responsible for a very irresponsible shot in a WC final. I have been a very severe critic of Afridi all through his career and the reason for that was that I’ve always believed that he has all the shots in his stock to make him a complete batsman but never liked the guy for his irresponsibility and recklessness in crunch situations. For me he was ‘Doom Doom Afridi’, and with each of his outings as a batsman in the recent past he quite literally doomed the team with the bat.

Coming into the T20 WC 2009, I was again in particular critical of his selection along with Salman Butt. And it proved me right with the kind of start we had but it was all till the day we faced the Proteas in the Semi-final and it was no surprise that along with millions of other Pakistanis I was astonished to see the team spirit and the tenacity with which the green brigade played against the South Africans and of course the Shahid Khan Afridi.

Whether it’s the change in his batting order, his mindset or whatever it was, I was impressed. And although his masterful innings both in the semis and the final still doesn’t make me an overnight Afridi fan but yes he at last managed to wash out the stains he carried from the last T20 final and I was more than glad to see him bat like that. His bowling has been nothing short of exceptional recently but it was his bat that sealed the honour for the country. His performance with the bat in both crunch matches was probably the best of his career and he rightly deserved to be the man of both matches. More than anyone else this win would certainly make Afridi realize how useful he can be with this lethal combination of leather and wood given that he disciplines his both skills with the kind of fitness he already has.

The glitter of the gems that Afridi produced in the last two matches shouldn’t blind anyone from appreciating Umar Gul and Saeed Ajmal, more than their skills it was their intelligence and understanding of the situation as bowlers that worked for Pakistani. Particularly I was really impressed by Saeed Ajmal and after a long time since Saqlain Mushtaq Pakistan finally got a very good thinking off spinner with an excellent control and temperament. Umar Gul, well the more we say about him the less, the guy has proved his mettle in all formats of the game, his swing, superb yorkers and variations with the bowl proved him too good for the opponents, specially seeing him bowling yorkers like that reminded one of Wasim and Waqar and thanks to him for the great difference he made. Both these gentlemen helped us reached the semi-final and beyond and actually paved the way for Afridi to take the cup home.

Muhammed Aamir is another upcoming talented lad along with Ahmed Shehzad and though the latter got few chances than he deserved the former grabbed the moment with both hands and very much made his own. There’s a lesson for Suhail Tanveer in it as well, ‘never let the money and fame go into your head’, if he’s sensible he won’t chose to walk Shoaib Akhter’s path.

And who can miss out on Abdul Razzaq, the veteran who justified his place on the very first match he had after a two year layoff. The three wickets he took in the final actually set the tone and Younis Khan very rightly said that, he had the match winners but couldn’t get the right combination and Razzaq’s inclusion helped him find that combination, which we all felt from the New Zealand match onwards. All other members notably Kamran Akmal and Shoaib Malik and other squad members along with Coach Intekhab Alam deserve all the adulation and appreciation. Congratulation to all of them!

And lastly on Younis Khan’s retirement, I think by keeping his weaknesses and strengths in mind, it was a very wise and timely decision he made. He not only redeemed himself from the initial criticism he received as a captain but now he walked away on a very very high note while shutting up all his critics.

And special congratulations to all our Pushtun brothers and sisters all around the world especially to all the IDP’s where ever they are in Pakistan. It was the Pushtun factor that was the major factor in bringing a major cup home after a lapse of 17 years.

In the end amidst all the uncertainty that surrounds us all, with so much to grief and so less to cheer, our cricket team has given us a reason to remember our identity and be proud of it. It was cricket at last that brought the smiles back, it was cricket at last that reminded the world ‘Don’t write us off’, indeed it was cricket at last …

Congratulation to every single Pakistani wherever they are!

Long live Pakistan.

Geo Tou Aisay

Faiza — Fri, 19 Jun 2009 11:52:29 +0000

www.youtube.com/watch?v=xbr_CXrRiwI

Geo tou aisay

فاصلہ ضرور ہے
منزلوں سے دور ہے
حوصلہ مگر دکھانا چاہئے
سانس ہے تو آس ہے
آس ہے تو پیاس ہے
پیاس ہے تو پھر بجھانا چاہئے
جھُکی جھُکی نہ ہوں نظریں
جھُکے نہ سر، جیو تو ایسے
سہما سہما سا ہو دل
نہ ہو کوئی ڈر، جیو تو ایسے
آئے جو غم تو مسکراؤ
مسکرا کے گلے لگاؤ
آگے آگے بڑھتے جانا
ساتھ سنگ چلیں
جیو تو ایسے

Akmal, Ajmal take Pakistan to semi-finals

Faiza — Mon, 15 Jun 2009 16:26:14 +0000

Requiring a win to move into the semi-finals, Pakistan accomplished just that with an efficient performance, easing past Ireland by 39 runs at The Oval. The margin was also sufficient to lift their net run-rate to 1.19, ensuring there’s no way both New Zealand and Sri Lanka can finish with as many points and a higher rate.

Pakistan’s last World Cup game against Ireland had ended in grief, but here they seemed aware of the threat posed by their feisty opponents: after winning the toss Pakistan played within themselves but yet managed 159, thanks largely to a well-paced 57 by Kamran Akmal. Ireland’s batting is clearly their weaker suit, and considering their highest in the tournament so far is only 138, a target of 160 was always likely to be a tough ask. And so it proved, as they finished on 120.

Apart from Akmal, none of the other Pakistan batsmen got big scores, but there were reasonable partnerships for almost every wicket, ensuring there was no repeat of the collapse which had knocked Pakistan out of the 2007 World Cup. Ireland, as usual, made the opposition work for their runs, with Boyd Rankin being the stand-out bowler, but the inability to get wickets meant Pakistan finished with 27 more than they had managed in the 50-over game in Jamaica a couple of years back.

Akmal held the innings together with a measured knock. The confidence of having scored runs in the earlier games was clearly on display, and he was decisive with his footwork and generally sound with his shot selection. He began with a pick-up shot over midwicket for six off the hapless Trent Johnston, and continued to play both the meaty shots and the deft ones: a scoop over fine leg off Alex Cusack went for four, as did crisp drives through cover off the left-arm spin of Regan West.

Shahzaib Hasan and Shahid Afridi, promoted up the order to No.3, didn’t go on to get bigger knocks but they provided the early impetus. Shahzaib kept lofting the pitched-up deliveries over the infield with varying degrees of success till his luck finally ran out, while Afridi thrashed Cusack and West through the off side before Kyle McCallan deceived him with a superb slower, tossed up, offbreak.

Along with Rankin’s fiery burst with the new ball, McCallan’s clever bowling was the highlight for Ireland in the field. Rankin kept it tight and was desperately unlucky not to pick up a wicket, while McCallan’s outstanding flight and change of pace ensured none of the batsmen dominated him. Johnston had a nightmare game, conceding 20 in his second over and 12 in his third, as batsmen picked him off their legs quite effortlessly, but even he redeemed himself with an excellent fourth over, picking up Akmal with a yorker and conceding only four runs.

Ireland gave little away in the field, and yet a target of 160 was always beyond them. William Porterfield fought gustily for his 36-ball 40, but hit his first four in the tenth over of the innings, by which time the asking rate had already climbed to nine and a half. Paul Stirling, playing his first game of the tournament, showed some promise in his 17, which included an impeccable cover-drive to get off the mark, but the big difference between the two sides was in their boundary-hitting abilities – Pakistan struck 13 fours and four sixes; Ireland only managed six fours.

Pakistan’s bowlers were all disciplined, with Mohammad Aamer getting rid of the dangerous Niall O’Brien early. Afridi and Saeed Ajmal offered few scoring opportunities, while Umar Gul continued from where he had left off against New Zealand, knocking over the stumps thrice, including once off a free-hit ball, and then scoring a direct hit to run out Regan West.

A dropped catch by Abdul Razzaq late in the innings was a small blot, but overall it was a polished performance by a team which is increasingly looking like a sound bet for the title.

Source

Just not cricket: This time it is personal

Saeed — Fri, 06 Mar 2009 14:14:02 +0000

Like every other Pakistani, I am simply appalled and very deeply hurt by the recent terrorist attack on the Sri Lankan team that took place in Lahore. ALL acts of terrorism should be condemned, but this was definitely much more than a physical attack. It was an attack on the very core of our Pakistani-ism, keeping in view what cricket means to this nation. Faisal Irfan Mian at Sportz Insight very beautifully puts his thoughts into words and I strongly agree with him…this time, it IS personal.

My very sincere apologies to the whole Sri Lankan team and nation. I hope that you all realize that this barbaric act of violence by no means reflects the sentiments of the Pakistani nation for your team or you as a nation. May Allah be with you all. Aameen.

This time it is personal. Long before I realized I loved the game of cricket, I remember hiding a transistor radio under the desk mid-lesson just to hear the score of the test match. Long before IPL and Stanford and Bollywood stars and commercial contracts, I remember improvising our writing pads into bats and scotch tape around scrunched up paper for a ball. It was just what you did as a Pakistani kid. This time it is personal. When I was fifteen and learned how to drive a car, I remember racing around the same Liberty round-about the bus was attacked. When I was 26, I remember sitting in the same Gaddafi stadium watching the same Sri Lanka chase 241 runs to become world champions. Yes, this time it is personal.

It is not that blowing up school children in a bus or businessmen in a hotel was any less tragic or underlined the ruthlessness and pointlessness of these perpetrators of terror any less. But targeting guest cricketers from a friendly country just crosses the line at so many different levels in the context of Pakistani culture.

Cricket is the one thing our struggling country has been able to be good at on a global level and consequently the one thing Pakistanis have come to closely associate with their sense of self worth. Foreign commentators on the country’s obsession with the sport always seem to miss this point. It is the one thing that has united a divided country, across age, across ethnicity, across political or ideological leanings. To attack cricket is to make a statement that these terrorists will pull out all the stops. They will attack children, they will attack teachers, they will attack women, they will attack indiscriminately, and yes, they will attack cricketers as well. Yes, this time it is personal.

I don’t want us to just condemn anymore. I don’t want us to use scape goats anymore, to point to “foreign hands”, to make excuses for our own impotency and political bickering. I don’t want us to justify why such a thing might have occurred or to be defensive about why it could be our own mistake and our own people who are involved in perpetrating it. I am, we all are, tired and frustrated and exhausted with this very real problem, our problem, created by us… only ever likely to be solved by us… but only if we acknowledge it and face it as our own… or we will be condemned to be what Frantz Fanon described in a different context as “the wretched of the earth”. Yes, this time it is personal, very very personal.

Nawakille: A squash town you’ve never heard of

Saeed — Wed, 22 Oct 2008 05:34:58 +0000

Originally posted by Faisal Irfan Mian

The small village of Nawakille (pop. few thousand) outside the frontier city of Peshawar in Pakistan boasts something that no other in the world can. Over the last half century, the village that does not have a single squash court, has produced six world number ones in the sport. In fact, since 1950 the six between them have won 29 British Opens (the Wimbledon of squash) and 14 World Opens (which started only in 1975).

This is an incredible story that just happens to be a sport story. If the sport of squash had a bigger profile in world sport, there would have been movies made on this subject. For now, a writeup in this blog will have to suffice. While the British whiled away their time guarding the Khyber pass, they decided to relieve their boredom by building a few outdoors roofless squash courts. In the heat and direct sunlight, it was difficult to play a game with one of the highest cardiovascular work rates. But try telling that to the Pathan warriors.

Hashim Khan, the first of the lot, become a ball-boy at the Peshawar British Army Officers club and practiced with the broken balls tossed out by the officers. When the officers would retreat indoors in the 100 degrees heat and the squash court was empty, it would be “Hashim vs Hashim” in the court according to his biography. He got good enough to be the Pakistan champion by 1949 and somehow got enough sponsorship to get to the British Open in 1951. He was 34 years old at the time (Borg retired from Tennis at 26). In the warm up tournament he beat the four time British Open champion Mahmoud El Karim conceding just six points. The British press called it a “flash in the pan”, expecting for order to be restored, but Hashim went on to beat Mahmoud in the Open final 9-5, 9-0, 9-0, and then continued to win the tournament six out of the next seven years.

Roshan Khan was a cousin of Hashim and beat him in the 1957 British Open.

Azam Khan was Hashim’s younger brother and practice partner. Sparring with his brother, Azam got good enough to win the British Open 4 times. One of his victories was over Roshan Khan with a dominating 9-1, 9-0, 9-0 scoreline that forced the Squash Rackets Association to introduce a playoff for third place to make it worthwhile for the audience to buy tickets.

Mohibullah Khan was the fourth of the group from Nawakille and won the British Open in 1963 in dramatic fashion, recovering from 8-1 down in the fourth game and saving multiple match points before winning in the fifth.

Then came a fallow period of two decades where Pakistan produced five world number 2′s but no world number won as Jonah Barrington of Great Britain and Geoff Hunt of Australia dominated the game. Maybe it was because Aftab Javed, Gogi Alauddin, Mohammed Yasin and Qamar Zaman were not from Nawakille. But Mohibullah Jr was from the village (Jansher’s elder brother), and he was the closest of all to get to world number 1, but unfortunately got incarcerated for carrying drugs to Britain. That will ruin anyone’s career.

The domination started again in 1979 by perhaps the greatest of all, Jahangir Khan (literally “world conqueror”). He beat the legendary Australian Geoff Hunt in the British Open Final and started surely the longest unbeaten streak in any individual sport. He went 5 years and 8 months or 555 matches without getting beat. Over his career, Jahangir accumulated 10 British Open titles and 6 World Opens.

The last of the line was Jansher Khan who won 8 World Opens and 6 British Opens. The Jahangir-Jansher rivalry over the next few years took on the nature of Sampras-Agassi or Palmer-Nicklaus, elevating the sport to a new level but leaving each wondering how much more successful he would have been without the other. Their rivalry was announced to the world in the 1988 World Open in Amsterdam by “the rally”. The first point of the match consisted of 247 strokes and lasted 6 minutes 16 seconds and ended in a let. Jahangir went on to win what would be his last World Open.

No one has ever been able to uncover the secret of Nawakille. Why did a small village produce so many world beaters without the existence of a single squash court. It is easy to come up with explanations of why Kenyans are excellent long distance runners, why Austrians produce world class skiers. But squash and Nawakille? I’m stumped.

Another unsung hero of Pakistan?

Saeed — Wed, 24 Sep 2008 03:10:45 +0000

Originally posted by Jehan Ara

After all he is the only Pakistani to have won a medal at the Paralympic Games in Beijing. He suffers from Cerebral Palsy. Haider created history when he won the silver medal for Pakistan in the Long Jump competition. Haider covered the distance of 6.44 meters, equal to the Tunisian competitor who covered the same distance but won the Gold Medal. Haider missed out on the Gold because in the preliminary rounds one of his five jumps, was rejected.

Pakistan has never won a medal in the Paralympic Games. This is a big deal. Why is there no celebration? Why is it that his photos are not plastered all over the print media? Why is he not being interviewed on all the television channels? Why hasn’t the government announced a cash prize as a reward?

If a cricketer makes a century (which hasn’t happened recently) everyone is talking about it, writing about it, zillions of prizes are announced, the President/PM call him to congratulate him. So anyone know if any of this happened when Haider won the only medal for Pakistan in Beijing? I googled and all i saw was a paragraph in The News and on APP – no photographs, no prize announcements, nothing … Do we really know how to recognize our achievers? Haider Ali is certainly someone we should shower with accolades.

PakFellows Blog » Sports

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