Shaheen Shah Afridi All Set To Make International Comeback!

Express fast bowler. A genuine fast bowling tearaway. The next Wasim Akram from Pakistan. The best current fast bowler operating in the great game of cricket. There are multiple definitions but there’s just one man and one alone. And he’s back.

Shaheen Afridi, it has been confirmed by the Pakistani cricket media reports, is all set to mark his international comeback after his name popped up in the a proper white ball series squad against New Zealand was announced just hours ago.

Though that is not before having missed out from full time international duties for his country for a period of around a quarter of a year.

Four weeks, truth be told, is quite a miss for any busy player in today’s contemporary fold of the game. For Shaheen Afridi to have sat out of the game that is his lifeline for full four months due to an injury was hugely upsetting.

As a matter of fact, the last one day international that the famous left arm pacer was back in June 2022 while the last T20 international he played for Pakistan was back in November last year.

For a 22 year old, Shaheen Afridi represents great potential and absolute promise, just the kind of traits that a team that so often misses playing to its full potential demands, especially in today’s fast-paced sport.

Having picked no fewer than 62 wickets from just 32 one day internationals in addition to 58 wickets from just 47 T20 games, Shaheen Afridi has proven his talent very early on in his career. However, one could argue that where it comes to the very top echelons of the game, i.e., Test match cricket, then Afridi has taken his game much higher having already picked 99 wickets from merely 25 five dayers.

For someone who’ll be ever so eager to stamp his authority on the game, it could be said one of the finest moments for the Pakistani speedster will arrive when he picks that one more wicket in Tests thus hitting a century of dismissals.

Interestingly, what a stage in his career to do it; it ought to be reiterated that the lanky fast bowler is merely 22-years-old.

That said, Pakistan are on the verge of entering a full fledged white ball series against the visiting Kiwis from the seventh of this month.

With Afridi’s return, their bowling looks solid and in great shape given that there already are the likes of Haris Rauf and Naseem Shah in their ranks.

Though, what ought to be said that 2023 isn’t the time when you want to get injured irrespective of whether you are a frontline batsman or a genuine wickettaker especially speaking of the white ball formats.

Towards the latter part of this year, India are all set to host what will be the next edition of the ICC ODI men’s World Cup; inarguably speaking the biggest stage of competitive men’s ODI cricket.

Whether or not Pakistan get the permission to play in India forms the next big talking point in their contemporary cricket. One certainly wishes to see that day where politics wouldn’t override cricket and we could all witness that day where India and Pakistan, two of the powerhouses of world cricket got to play bilateral series’ like they used to back in the day.