Shaheen Shah Afridi: “Whenever he scores big, we win”
Image taken by: Bimal Mirwani
Shaheen Shah Afridi, the Pakistan left-arm seamer, said whenever opening batsman Fakhar Zaman “scores big”, the team wins.
Afridi was referring to the Lahore Qalandars, the franchise he captains in the Pakistan Super League (PSL), but the same can be said about the Pakistan team too.
Zaman was in great form during PSL 8 earlier in 2023 as he scored 429 runs in 13 matches, which included a century and two fifties, at an average of 33 and a strike-rate of 160.67.
The 33-year-old from Mardan was also brilliant in Pakistan’s recent five-match ODI series against New Zealand, where he amassed 365 runs, which included two centuries, at an average of 90.75.
“Whenever he scores big, we win,” Afridi was quoted as saying by Cricket Pakistan.
The 23-year-old has been picked for Pakistan’s upcoming tour of Sri Lanka, which will consist of two Test matches, but Zaman was left out of the squad.
Pakistan Squad for Sri Lanka Test Series:Â Babar Azam (c), Mohammad Rizwan (vc & wk), Aamer Jamal, Abdullah Shafique, Abrar Ahmed, Hasan Ali, Imam-ul-Haq, Muhammad Huraira, Mohammad Nawaz, Naseem Shah, Noman Ali, Salman Ali Agha, Sarfaraz Ahmed (wk), Saud Shakeel, Shaheen Shah Afridi and Shan Masood