Shahid Afridi
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Career
1996
Sachin Tendulkar’s bat
Avijit Ghosh, May 5, 2019: The Times of India
Back in 1996, a young Shahid Afridi scored a blazing maiden century off 37 balls against Sri Lanka to create a new ODI world record. Now in his no-holdsbarred autobiography, “Game Changer”, the former Pakistan blunderbuss reveals that the century was scored using Sachin Tendulkar’s bat.
Sachin had given his favourite bat to Waqar Younis to take to Sialkot, Pakistan’s world-famous sportsgood manufacturing capital, and get a custom-made one replicated there. “But guess what Waqar did before he took it to Sialkot? He gave it to me, before I went in to bat. So effectively, that first century in Nairobi by Shahid Afridi was made with Sachin Tendulkar’s best bat. Go figure,” writes Afridi, who was 21 — and not 16 as recorded then.
‘Dreamed of hitting Sanath, Murali for 6s’
A stunning 102 off 40 balls, Afridi’s knock was studded with 11 sixes and six boundaries and came at a T20-type scoring rate of 255. He was playing his second ODI game and batting for the first time.
Interestingly, Afridi had dreamed of smashing the Lankan spinners for sixes the night before. The book, co-authored by Wajahat S Khan, says he had told his roommate Shadab Kabir about it in the morning. A middleorder batsman, Kabir played five Tests and three ODIs for Pakistan. “‘I had a dream that I was slamming Jayasuriya and Muralitharan and Dharmasena for sixes,’ I said. ‘Big, huge sixes.’ ‘Let’s pray it happens, brother,’ said Shadab’,” writes Afridi.
As things turned out, left-arm spinner Sanath Jayasuriya was pummelled all over Gymkhana Ground in Nairobi. His three wickets cost him 94 runs in 10 overs while offie Muttiah Muralitharan went for 2/73.
The innings was a bigger sensation because the batter was said to be only 16 years old. However, the cricketer also revealed in the candid autobiography that the year of birth wasn’t accurate. “For the record, I was just nineteen, and not sixteen like they claim. I was born in 1975. So, yes, the authorities stated my age incorrectly,” he says in the book. According to websites, cricketpakistan.com and cricinfo.com, Afridi was born on March 1, 1980. If the all-rounder was born on March 1, 1975 then actually, he was not 19 but 21 when he had played that hurricane knock against the Lankans on October 4, 1996.
Excerpts from his memoirs
May 5, 2019: The Times of India
Why Shahid Afridi ate a cricket ball…
…And hated Gautam Gambhir. Shahid Afridi’s memoir is probably as controversial and entertaining as his batting. Excerpts…
I’ve got into trouble many times, over many things, but I don’t regret paying any fines or penalties for sledging. Aggression is the beauty of cricket. Trash-talking and sledging isn’t very gentlemanly. But I can’t imagine a more boring game if one doesn’t indulge in teasing the opponents a little. Viewers like it too. But sledging should be limited to just the field. Sledging off the field? No way. Never. It’s unhealthy.
Gautam Gambhir was my favourite sledging victim at one point just because of the way he talked back. So was Shane Warne. They both used to get fired up and talk right back at us, so it was always more fun with them. But I’ve had some embarrassing moments as well.
I remember, once we were in the middle of a bad series in Australia. We were playing a tough game and I was desperate for a win because it was my first stint as captain. Plus, we were in Perth — the wicket there is never helpful to visiting sides from the subcontinent. Pakistan was in a strong position to win but needed just a little bit of extra help with the ball. So, in front of the cameras, with millions watching, I did what’s probably been done before but never captured on live television. I bit into the ball. Big, juicy bites, to dent it and make it work for us. Here’s the thing: everybody tampers with the ball. Everybody. I just showed the world how I do it without really trying to conceal it. It’s that simple. I wanted to win. I like to win. And I’m sorry, very sorry, that I did it. I was emotional and hungry for a win and yes, that’s why I ate the ball — or tried to.
Gambhir behaves like he is a cross between Bradman and James Bond
I can’t say if I was particularly fond of ‘targeting’ any one Indian opponent on the field. But, to reiterate, the aggressive ‘body language formula’ was applied wholeheartedly and widely when it came to facing off against India. When you took the field to play India, you didn’t just play eleven Indians. You played against the over a billion people strong country itself, the thousands in the stadium, as well as the millions watching on TV. And then, there were the rivalries. Some personal, some professional. First is the curious case of Gautam Gambhir. Oh, poor Gautam. He and his attitude problem. He, who has no personality. He, who is barely a character in the great scheme of cricket. He, who has no great records, just a lot of attitude. He, who behaves like he’s a cross between Don Bradman and James Bond or something. In Karachi, we call guys like him saryal, burnt up.
I remember that run-in with him during the 2007 Asia Cup, when he completed his single while running straight into me. The umpires had to finish it off or I would have. Clearly, we had a frank bilateral discussion about each other’s female relatives. Whatever. Gambhir doesn’t matter. There are bigger fish to fry when playing India. It should be noted though, that my bad equation with Gambhir was a one-off. My relationship with most Indian players has been great. Harbhajan Singh, Yuvraj Singh, Ajay Jadeja — I hung out a lot with them. They’re all great guys and we had some great times together. But on the ground, we couldn’t stand the sight of each other. It’s not complicated. The rivalry is forever. They are Indians. We are Pakistanis. The end.
Cricket? No, not for his girls
Over the years, I became father to four daughters — Aqsa, Ajwa, Asmara and Ansha. Truth be told, with the birth of each, my luck kept on improving. Daughters are a blessing. They really are. Aqsa is in the 10th grade, Ansha is in the ninth. They’re both great at sports and even better in academics. Ansha wants to help out with the Shahid Afridi Foundation after she completes her studies. Ajwa and Asmara are the youngest and love to play dress-up. They have my permission to play any sport, as long as they’re indoors. Cricket? No, not for my girls. They have permission to play all the indoor games they want, but my daughters are not going to be competing in public sporting activities. It’s for social and religious reasons that I’ve made this decision and their mother agrees with me. The feminists can say what they want; as a conservative Pakistani father, I’ve made my decision.
On Indo-Pak ties worsening
Let’s admit it and not sugarcoat it. Things have gone from bad to worse between India and Pakistan in almost every way. The current state of affairs is ugly and hurts both nations. The trolls and the fake news on social media hurt too. Even more painful is the firing on the Line of Control (LoC) and the loss of lives on both sides, but not as much as the general breakdown in general civility between both countries. And let’s not even get into how the mainstream media operates on both sides of the border.
I’ve seen it in my hotel room TV. I’ve seen it in the lobby. I’ve seen it from the team bus. I’ve seen it in the parking lot, the stands, the dressing room and the ground. The anti-Pakistan narrative in India has gained heights I could never imagine. It’s almost as if the hatred against Pakistan — by India’s political leadership, by the trolls on social media, by the anchors on television — is not organic, but organized.
Yes, I know tons of Indians who are simply awesome. They love the game of cricket for what it really is. These Indians agree with me when I say that you can’t do away with Pakistan if you’re an Indian, just like you can’t wish away India if you’re a Pakistani. But I feel that those voices are drowning out in modern India. If we can’t be friends — because of our natural rivalry — then maybe we can at least be good neighbours? Yes, Pakistan has its own problems. Sure, there are a lot of crazy people in our country. But our elected leaders don’t go around saying that they will break up India into a thousand pieces. That’s the difference between their leaders and ours. This new style of politics that has gripped India is disturbing, with their leaders, ministers, even Prime Minister Modi, going on about teaching Pakistan a ‘lesson’.
For the record, as a Pakistani, I’m an isolationist — we need to first and foremost get our own house in order. But because I’m a cricketer, and you cannot avoid talking about India as a Pakistani cricketer, the vitriol and hate from India against my country has never been louder and I must critique it.
In my language, Pashto, we say: ‘Don’t insult my bad mother, and I won’t kill your good mother.’ It means that regardless of who is at fault, regardless of who sends spies and who sends militants and regardless of who tried to break up or separate a state or a wing or a province, we need to leave a backdoor open for peace. That backdoor is cricket. Excerpted from Game Changer by Shahid Afridi with Wajahat S Khan with permission from HarperCollins India
Had alerted team management about fixing deals
May 5, 2019: The Times of India
Had alerted team management about fixing deals, claims Afridi
New Delhi:
Former Pakistan captain Shahid Afridi has claimed that he was aware of the exchange of messages between his teammates and a bookmaker before the 2010 spot-fixing scandal but then coach Waqar Younis refused to act despite being provided with evidence. Making another startling revelation in his autobiography ‘Game Changer’, Afridi said he stumbled upon a series of SMS messages between bookie Mazhar Majeed and some Pakistan players before ‘News of the World’ broke the story in a sting operation.
The spot-fixing scandal happened in August 2010 during Pakistan’s tour of England and then captain Salman Butt, Mohammad Asif and Mohammad Amir were banned by the ICC for their involvement.
Afridi claimed he had lashed out at the team management for turning a blind eye to the issue when he confronted them with evidence prior to the scandal that rocked world cricket.
“...the management gave a damn... typical obfuscation and delay tactics; the Pakistani management’s head was in the sand. Maybe the management was scared of the consequences. Maybe they were invested in these players as their favourites and future captains...I really can’t say,” Afridi wrote in the book.
He said he was in Sri Lanka on a tour (Asia Cup in June 2010) when he received transcripts of the text messages from Majeed and Butt’s ‘agent and manager’, who was also prosecuted.
“It is pure coincidence how I got hold of them. And it’s got something to do with a kid, a beach and a repairman,” said Afridi. “When Majeed went back to England, he took his phone for repair to a mobile fix-it. The phone stayed at the shop for days. In a random coincidence, the shop owner turned out to be a friend of a friend of mine (this may sound like too much of a coincidence but the Pakistani community in England is quite closely connected).” PTI
