Whenever the word ‘Shaheen Afridi’ pops up, the vision of a lethal bowler bamboozling batters comes up. Shaheen, though, is likely to start being referred to as a “all-rounder” now that he performed so well in the Pakistan Super League (PSL) on Tuesday. The Pakistani cricketer hit five beautiful sixes on the way to his first T20 fifty. When Peshawar Zalmi and Lahore Qalandars played in Rawalpindi, the player, who is often known for his pace bowling abilities, put on a batting display.
Shaheen came out to bat at No. 6 and scored 52 runs in total from just 36 balls. When Shaheen elected to go up in the batting order, Lahore were in trouble at 21 for 4. With Hussain Talat, who scored 63 runs off 37 balls and struck five sixes and four boundaries, he went on to write a 114-run stand. Shaheen didn’t seem to be phased by the calibre of bowlers at the opposite end of the field, whether it was Aamer Jamal, Azmatullah Omarzai, or Mujeeb ur Rahman, and he gave up after just managing one run off the first nine deliveries.
The official PSL Twitter account also shared the videos of Shaheen’s hitting, suggesting it was as if the Shahid ‘Boom Boom’ Afridi had come out to bat again.
Its as if Boom Boom Afridi came out to bat again! Oh wait…#SabSitarayHumaray l #HBLPSL8 l #PZvLQ pic.twitter.com/SSxa7dwWDx
— PakistanSuperLeague (@thePSLt20) March 7, 2023
BOOM #SabSitarayHumaray l #HBLPSL8 l #PZvLQ pic.twitter.com/t0ChWOsqCR
— PakistanSuperLeague (@thePSLt20) March 7, 2023
Shaheen’s great effort with the bat saw Lahore post a 172-run total in the innings but couldn’t help the club exceed Peshawar’s total of 207 runs. The southpaw also shone with the ball, bringing up 4 wickets for 31 runs. Due to Peshawar’s victory, Karachi Kings, a former PSL winner, were disqualified from the playoffs. However, because the Qalandars were already qualified for the following round, the loss didn’t really affect them.
