AB de Villiers: “Shaheen Afridi is one of the most dangerous bowlers out there at the moment”
Image taken by: Bimal Mirwani
AB de Villiers, the South Africa big-hitter, conceded that Pakistan left-arm seamer Shaheen Shah Afridi is “one of the most dangerous bowlers out there at the moment.”
Afridi has a habit of picking up early wickets with the new ball and providing breakthroughs at pivotal moments for the men in green.
Knowing this, De Villiers admitted that batsmen have to be wary of the 23-year-old whenever they come to the crease.
“Shaheen Afridi is one of the most dangerous bowlers out there at the moment,” he said on X, formerly known as Twitter.
Afridi recently took six wickets in two Tests against Sri Lanka at an average of 37.33.
He then proceeded to take six wickets in three ODIs against Afghanistan at an average of 16.33.
Most recently, he featured in the Asia Cup and finished with 10 wickets in five matches at an average of 23.50.
Pakistan began their campaign with a comprehensive 238-run win over Nepal before sharing one point apiece with India as their match was rained off.
Having progressed to the Super Four stage, the men in green continued to impress as they defeated Bangladesh by seven wickets.
Their unbeaten streak came to an end when they suffered a 228-run loss at the hands of India.
Even though this happened, Pakistan still had a chance to make it to the Asia Cup final, but they ended up losing to Sri Lanka by two wickets via the Duckworth–Lewis–Stern method (DLS) method.
Afridi is now representing Pakistan in the 2023 ICC Cricket World Cup and has taken nine wickets in the first four games against the Netherlands, Sri Lanka, India and Australia, against whom he took a five-wicket haul.
Pakistan started off with back-to-back wins over the Netherlands and Sri Lanka before losing to India and Australia.
They will now take on Afghanistan on October 23 in Chennai.
Pakistan Squad for 2023 ICC Cricket World Cup: Fakhar Zaman, Imam-ul-Haq, Abdullah Shafique, Babar Azam (capt), Mohammad Rizwan, Saud Shakeel, Iftikhar Ahmed, Salman Ali Agha, Shadab Khan, Usama Mir, Mohammad Nawaz, Shaheen Shah Afridi, Haris Rauf, Mohammad Wasim Jnr, Hasan Ali