Afridi still an inspiration for Afghan youngsters
sharjah — Shahid Afridi may have called time on his career but the former Pakistan all-rounder continues to be an inspiration for many young cricketers, especially in the inaugural Afghanistan Premier League (APL).
The 38-year-old Afridi turned out for the Paktia Panthers in the League, but unfortunately for him, they couldn’t make the final of the competition.
The Panthers, led by the podgy Mohammad Shahzad, went down to Kabul Zwanan by 90 runs in the semifinal at the Sharjah Cricket Stadium.
Nonetheless, Afridi, who has played in many franchise-based Leagues around the world, including the Indian Premier League (IPL), the Pakistan Super League (PSL), the Australian Big Bash, Bangladesh Premier League (BPL) and the Caribbean Premier League (CPL), felt that the APL was a great initiative to unearth talented youngsters from Afghanistan.
“My experience was very good. I must give credit to the Afghanistan Cricket Board. They really took a great initiative and a job well done,” said Afridi.
Afridi said that reason he signed up for the APL was to support the new initiative and he also believed that some of these youngsters were ready to make the step up and play for Afghanistan.
“It is a great opportunity, especially for the youngsters. Why I’m here is because I want to support their cricket. Their cricketers share the dressing room with me and
these youngsters are good kids. And I saw some of them are capable of playing for Afghanistan. Please don’t ask me names but I saw some very good talented cricketers,” he said.
Afridi commended the ACB (Afghanistan Cricket Board) but said that more needs to be done to tap the talent coming through from different parts of Afghanistan.
“The Board is like a father to the cricketers and they are the children. Like how the father nurtures the child, the board should do the same with the players,” Afridi said.
Meanwhile, about the defeat to Zwanan, Afridi said that they probably gave away a few extra runs, which cost them the game.
“Well, I must say that we didn’t bowl well. I think we gave them an extra 35 runs. That total was chaseable but we didn’t build partnerships,” said Afridi, who celebrated his 18th wedding anniversary on Sunday.
Meanwhile, Shahzad said that Afridi’s influence on the team as well as himself has been immense.
“Afridi is a senior player and he has always been supportive of the youngsters. His advice during games has helped not just me but also these youngsters, who got to learn a lot from him,” said Shahzad.