Courtney Walsh: “Shaheen is someone who I’ve always admired, the way he conducts himself, the way he plays”
Image taken by: Bimal Mirwani
Legendary West Indies fast bowler Courtney Walsh said he has always admired Pakistan left-arm seamer Shaheen Shah Afridi.
Walsh praised Afridi’s approach, highlighting the way he conducts himself, executes his plans and keeps things simple.
While acknowledging the talent of other Pakistan fast bowlers, including Naseem Shah and Mohammad Wasim Jnr, Walsh said he sees something special in Afridi.
“Shaheen is someone who I’ve always admired, the way he conducts himself, the way he plays, he’s never given that attitude and just his own skill set and the pride that he plays [with] when he plays for Pakistan and even in franchise cricket. And that’s what you want to see in fast bowlers, and he has all those qualities,” he told Geo News.
“As you mentioned, Naseem and those guys, yes, they’re up there with it, and the quality is always going to be there. But I’ve always singled him (Shaheen) out for the way he executes, the way he goes about his job, keeping it simple and just trying to do the basics consistently.”
Afridi was recently left out of Pakistan’s squad for their Test series against the West Indies and England, which the men in green drew 1-1 and lost 3-0 respectively.
He has now returned to first-class cricket and played in Khan Research Laboratories’ President’s Trophy Grade-I match against Ghani, where he took four wickets and scored 47 runs.
The Pakistan team will be back in action soon as they are scheduled to play a three-match T20I series against Sri Lanka from October 9 to 13.
This will be followed by an ODI tri-series against Sri Lanka and England between October 18 and 31.
Pakistan’s Squad for the T20I series against Sri Lanka: Sahibzada Farhan (captain), Abdul Samad, Abrar Ahmed, Arafat Minhas, Fakhar Zaman, Hasan Nawaz, Imran Randhawa, Khawaja Nafay (wicketkeeper), Maaz Sadaqat, Naseem Shah, Razaullah, Saim Ayub, Salman Mirza, Shadab Khan, Sufyan Moqim
Pakistan’s Squad for the ODI tri-series against Sri Lanka and England: Shaheen Shah Afridi (captain), Abrar Ahmed, Salman Ali Agha, Arafat Minhas, Babar Azam, Faheem Ashraf, Fakhar Zaman, Ghazi Ghori (wicketkeeper), Haris Rauf, Hasan Nawaz, Naseem Shah, Razaullah, Saad Baig (wicketkeeper), Saim Ayub, Shadab Khan, Sufyan Moqim