Shahid Afridi © AFP
Pakistan all-rounder Shahid Afridi on Tuesday named himself as one of his all-time favourite cricketers, aside from former legendary batsman Saeed Anwar. Afridi, who has retired from both Tests and One-Day Internationals (ODI) in order to prolong his Twenty20 International (T20I) career, was asked the question on microblogging website Twitter, which Afridi replied with “Lala [his nickname] & s.anwar [Saeed]“. Afridi is one of the most hard-hitting batsmen in the history of the sport, having started his career off with a bang by smashing a 37-ball century in only his second ODI appearance against Sri Lanka at Nairobi in 1996.
@kkhankareem1231 Lala & s.anwar
— Shahid Afridi (@SAfridiOfficial) August 11, 2015
Afridi quit Tests following the two-match Test series against Australia in 2010, and from ODIs following Pakistan’s defeat to Australia in the quarter-final of the ICC Cricket World Cup 2015. Afridi, one of the leading ODI wicket-takers with 395 scalps to his credit, recently featured in the two-match T20I series against Sri Lanka that followed the Tests and the ODIs. While the veteran player was dismissed cheaply in the first game, he scored a valuable 22-ball 45 which played a valuable role in paving the way for a memorable one-wicket victory for the visitors.
Among the many records that Afridi holds is that of the most appearances in ODIs (398). He is the third-highest wicket-taker in the 50-over format after Wasim Akram (502) and Waqar Younis (416). With a tally of 8,027 runs, he is the fourth-highest run-getter for Pakistan in the format after Inzamam-ul-Haq (11,701), Mohammad Yousuf (9,554) and Anwar (8,824).