Azhar Mahmood: “He has all the ingredients to become one of the best bowlers in the world”

Image courtesy of: ESPNcricinfo

Pakistan bowling coach Azhar Mahmood believes that seamer Shaheen Shah Afridi “has all the ingredients to become one of the best bowlers in the world”.

Afridi was one of Pakistan’s standout bowlers during the recent tour of South Africa as he took nine wickets in two Tests at an average of 26.66.

He followed that up with six wickets in four ODIs at an average of 23.16 and two wickets in two Twenty20 Internationals at an average of 25.

“I must say that I am extremely impressed with Shaheen Shah Afridi’s progress so far,” Mahmood wrote in his blog for PakPassion. “He already has skill and potential and is fast learning the art of fast bowling which is extremely encouraging for us.

“We are, however, working on a few things with him, namely on his run-up and his delivery stride so that it is more balanced. In my mind, there is no doubt that he will get better and better with time and he has all the ingredients to become one of the best bowlers in the world.

“He has everything and most importantly he is mentally sharp, he wants to learn, he wants to adapt his game because he is not shy to try different things with the ball.

“As a coach it makes things much easier when you have a bowler who is eager to learn and willing to try different things to improve himself.”