7 top moments from Shahid Afridi's international career
Shahid Afridi, the prodigal son of Pakistani cricket has announced his retirement from International Cricket, 21 years after he slammed the fastest hundred in the history of ODI cricket at the time.
A rather illustrious career came to a grinding halt as Afridi lost favour with Pakistani selectors. He would, however, be happy that he ended his International career after a 28 ball 54 for Peshawar Zalmi in the Pakistan Super League.
Lovingly called as "boom boom" for his maverick style of batting, the flamboyant all-rounder was instrumental in Pakistan's T20 World Cup win in 2009. His leg spin bowling edged over his batting towards the latter half of his career and he put together many match-winning performances with the ball.
Here we take a look at some great moments from the career of Shahid Afridi.
#7 A different kind of knock against New Zealand in Sharjah, April 2002
Shahid Afridi took a detour from his whack-crack style of batting after Pakistan had bowled out New Zealand for a meagre 213. Opening the batting, Afridi took his time to settle in, something extraordinary from the maverick batsman.
Once set the aggressive side of him took over and he smashed seven fours and eight maximums off a hapless Kiwi attack. He completed his third One-Day hundred in no time and remained unbeaten as Pakistan made light work of the target.
Unlike his usual manner, a new-found maturity was evident in his style, thus making this a special hundred.