Shahid Afridi - Will he ever grow up?

[Tyberious Funk]

Almost impossible to forget this;

http://www.espncricinfo.com/ci/engine/match/66057.html

Say whatever you like... maybe he was a older than 16, but he was almost certainly still very young and he was only playing in his second one-day international. And I'm sure the ground was small... but many of his shots would have cleared the largest boundaries in the world. And it was against a relatively full-strength Sri Lankan team -- the same one that had won the World Cup earlier that year.

People say that Jayasuriya changed the face of one-day cricket batting. But I reckon it was Afridi that took it to the next level... particularly on that day.

 

[Freo Big Fella]

^ - pretty tidy bowling effort as well given the calibre of the Sri Lankan batting at the time.

 

[ioppolo]

He never reeled himself in after that 37 ball 100. Arrogance, forever.

 

[PhatBoy]

He never reeled himself in after that 37 ball 100. Arrogance, forever.

He was arrogant but it wasn't arrogance that made him play the way he did. He simply couldn't help himself. He said as much.

 

[ioppolo]

Says to me he's rather immature tbf.

 

[PhatBoy]

Says to me he's rather immature tbf.

If we substituted the name Sehwag for Afridi I don't think immature would be the
term used, even though as batsmen they suffered from similar ailments (Sehwag just happened to be better)

 

[Hellgood]

If we substituted the name Sehwag for Afridi I don't think immature would be the
term used, even though as batsmen they suffered from similar ailments (Sehwag just happened to be better)

Whilst Afridi does warrant a bit more credit than the flippant disregard from the above poster, Sehwag was a slasher rather than a slog across the line type which is a far higher percentage approach to take.

 

[Damon_3388]

Sehwag was a slasher rather than a slog across the line type which is a far higher percentage approach to take.

Just reminded me of the murderous cut shots Sehwag would play in his prime. Beautifully brutal.

 

[Ronnie Baby]

The bloke ate pace bowlers for dinner

 

[jackess]

The bloke ate pace bowlers for dinner

Rana's face is brilliant.

 

[Sammo360]

http://www.espncricinfo.com/story/_/id/26654309/shahid-afridi-reveals-real-age-autobiography

Open secret finally solved. Born in 1975, not 1980.

 

[ioppolo]

Played his last international at 43, not a bad effort

 

[mouncey2franklin]

http://www.espncricinfo.com/story/_/id/26654309/shahid-afridi-reveals-real-age-autobiography

Open secret finally solved. Born in 1975, not 1980.

What kind of nonsense is going on here?

 

[SunGirl89]

this week it would seem that he grew up very quickly

 

[Ishikawa]

Predictable focus on irrelevant guff like his age aside, this is a pretty remarkable account of what was going on back in 2010 or so. I do recall watching his innings' in that Australian series thinking what the hell is going through this guys mind. Thought it was just nonchalance or T20, but no.

http://www.espncricinfo.com/story/_/id/26666171/how-shahid-afridi-helped-unearth-2010-spot-fix

 

[ioppolo]

If what he says is true then my respect for him has increased significantly.

I wonder if he touches on that biting scandal at the WACA in his book?

 

[MC Bad Genius]

Predictable focus on irrelevant guff like his age aside, this is a pretty remarkable account of what was going on back in 2010 or so. I do recall watching his innings' in that Australian series thinking what the hell is going through this guys mind. Thought it was just nonchalance or T20, but no.

http://www.espncricinfo.com/story/_/id/26666171/how-shahid-afridi-helped-unearth-2010-spot-fix

Very interesting read. It's hard to know how much is true though. If it's true, then it could help explain some of Afridi's more erratic behaviour ... but the argument could be made that his erratic behaviour makes him not the most reliable of witnesses.

 

[Ok Boomer]

If what he says is true then my respect for him has increased significantly.

I wonder if he touches on that biting scandal at the WACA in his book?

It was probably just a brain fade like Rampe climbing a goal post.

You wouldn't make it so blatant if it was intentional cheating

 

[10Dulkar]

If you watch the footage of his debut in Nairobi, his profile shows him as being 21 years of age so I'm not sure how it came about that he was supposedly born in 1980.

 

[RohitSharma]

There is a saying, Pathans are dumber than donkeys. I can explain better in my language but most Indians / Pakiatani here are like Grunder Sandhu or Usman Khwaja, they won't understand

 

[MC Bad Genius]

There is a saying, Pathans are dumber than donkeys. I can explain better in my language but most Indians / Pakiatani here are like Grunder Sandhu or Usman Khwaja, they won't understand

That seems like a pretty racist saying ...