Glenn Maxwell: “Shaheen Afridi is a wizard with the new ball up front”
Image taken by: Bimal Mirwani
Australia big-hitting batsman Glenn Maxwell expressed his admiration for Pakistan left-arm seamer Shaheen Shah Afridi, calling him “a wizard with the new ball”.
Afridi has developed a reputation for taking wickets early on, which is one of the reasons why he is placed among the top fast bowlers in the world.
Having seen the devastating impact the 24-year-old can have with the new ball, Maxwell acknowledged that batsmen have to be careful when going up against the tall left-armer.
“Shaheen Afridi is a wizard with the new ball up front,” he was quoted as saying by Cricket Pakistan.
Afridi recently featured in Pakistan’s two-Test series against Bangladesh, but only played in one match and took two wickets at an average of 48.
He then captained the Lions in the Champions One-Day Cup, which was a domestic 50-over competition that took place in Faisalabad, and finished with nine wickets in four games at an average of 29.33.
Afterwards, Afridi was involved in the first Test against England, where he picked up one wicket at an average of 120.
He was subsequently removed from the side for the second Test, which Pakistan won by 152 runs, and wasn’t picked for the third Test either, which started on October 24 in Rawalpindi.
Pakistan Squad for 2nd and 3rd Tests against England:Â Shan Masood (captain), Saud Shakeel (vice-captain), Aamer Jamal, Abdullah Shafique, Haseebullah Khan (wicketkeeper), Kamran Ghulam, Mehran Mumtaz, Mir Hamza, Mohammad Ali, Muhammad Hurraira, Mohammad Rizwan (wicketkeeper), Noman Ali, Saim Ayub, Sajid Khan, Salman Ali Agha, Zahid Mahmood.