3 reasons why Shaheen Shah Afridi is the best left-arm pacer in the world
Shaheen Shah Afridi has made a name for himself with his brilliant performances for Pakistan at the international level. The left-arm pacer does not participate in too many T20 leagues outside Pakistan, but he has performed well in the few competitions that he has participated in.
In the ongoing T20 Blast tournament in England and Wales, Afridi became the first bowler in T20 cricket history to take four wickets in the first over of a match. Playing for the Nottinghamshire Outlaws, the 23-year-old bagged the wickets of Warwickshire batters Alex Davies and Chris Benjamin on the first two balls.
Dan Mousley and Ed Barnard were the other two batters who lost their wickets to Afridi as Warwickshire were down to 7/4 at the end of the first over. Apart from this performance, in this listicle, we will look at the three reasons why Shaheen Shah Afridi is the best left-arm pacer in the world right now.
#1 Shaheen Shah Afridi has performed brilliantly across all 3 formats in international cricket
In the modern era of T20 leagues, it is rare to see a fast bowler playing in all three formats of international cricket consistently. Shaheen Afridi is one of the few pacers on that list.
The left-arm fast bowler from Pakistan has accounted for 70 wickets in ODIs, 99 wickets in 25 Test matches, and 64 wickets in 52 T20Is. He has troubled the batters with his pace in all three formats.
Mitchell Starc and Trent Boult were at their peak in the 2010s, but of late, Starc's performances have declined, whereas Boult has decided against signing a contract with New Zealand Cricket. Afridi is way ahead of the other active left-arm pacers when it comes to performance in all three formats of international cricket.
#2 Shaheen Shah Afridi has brought his 'A' game to the table in ICC tournaments
Every player feels the pressure when playing at the grand stage of ICC tournaments. The whole world closely follows the matches in the ICC events, which is why even the best cricketers in the world struggle to perform well consistently.
Shaheen Afridi has played only a few ICC tournaments but impressed in all of them. In the 2019 Cricket World Cup, the left-arm pacer bowled his career-best spell of 6/35 in a crucial group-stage match against Bangladesh.
Next, in the 2021 T20 World Cup, he bowled a spell of 3/31 to help Pakistan record their maiden win against India at the grand stage. In the 2022 T20 World Cup, Afridi returned with figures of 3/14 and 4/22 in do-or-die matches against South Africa and Bangladesh, respectively.
#3 Shaheen Shah Afridi has the habit of taking big wickets
Dismissing the best batters of the opposition lineup consistently is an art that very few bowlers have mastered. Shaheen Afridi has done a great job when it comes to taking the big wickets of the opponent team.
Some of his international wickets include Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, KL Rahul, Kane Williamson, Glenn Maxwell, Quinton de Kock, Litton Das, Kieron Pollard, Hashim Amla, Faf du Plessis, Eoin Morgan, David Warner, David Miller, Tamim Iqbal, Dimuth Karunaratne, Ross Taylor, Jonny Bairstow and Marnus Labuschagne.
All the aforementioned names have achieved enormous success in international cricket. It proves that Shaheen Shah Afridi is the best left-arm pacer in the world right now.