According to Pakistan bowling coach Shaun Tait, pace spearhead Shaheen Afridi is a world-class bowler, and elite batters all over the globe do not desire to face him. Afridi leads the speed attack for Pakistan. Tait also elaborated on why it is so nerve-wracking for the batsmen to face Shaheen.
For the last few years, Shaheen has established himself as Pakistan’s primary fast bowler, and he has maintained this status throughout all of the country’s many competitive forms. The left-handed speedster was also awarded the coveted Sir Garfield Sobers Trophy for Men’s Cricketer of the Year by the International Cricket Council in 2021.
There are moments when it’s due to his presence: Shaun Tait talks about Shaheen Afridi
During an interaction with the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) podcast, Tait said that “Sometimes it is not even his [Shaheen] speed, sometimes it is simply his presence, standing at the top of his mark, and the world’s best batter feels they don’t want to face this bowler.”
All that drama is provided by how the audience gets engaged while he is bowling. Even though the majority of right-handers are aware that they will be challenged with an in-swinger, they do not have any solutions to it.”
In the meantime, Shaheen has been playing consistently over the last several months. He even found time to participate in the 2022 County Championship for Middlesex for a short period. This year has been a successful one for the tall fast bowler collectively as well as individually, with the tall fast bowler earning the ICC award for individual achievement.
The Lahore Qalandars, whom he captained, won the Pakistan Super League (PSL) for the first time in February. They did so by defeating the Multan Sultans, who had held the championship before and were in good form. Afridi has been in fantastic form over the last few years, and he received rapid acclaim for his match-winning stint against Pakistan’s bitter rivals India during the Twenty20 World Cup in the United Arab Emirates in 2021. He took out the illustrious top order of the Men in Blue, featuring the likes of Rohit Sharma, KL Rahul, and Virat Kohli, as Pakistan successfully secured their first victory in the World Cup against India.
