Hampshire sign Shahid Afridi for the 2016 NatWest T20 Blast

[#GreenRoars]

Hampshire Cricket are pleased to announce the signing of Pakistan all-rounder Shahid Afridi for the 2016 NatWest T20 Blast.

The Pakistan T20 skipper will arrive at the Ageas Bowl ahead of the start of Hampshire’s T20 Blast campaign and he will be available for the entire tournament.

Afridi quickly became a fans’ favourite in his last spell at Hampshire in 2011, impressing with both the bat and the ball as the club reached the semi-finals of the T20 domestic competition. This included 80 from just 42 balls in the semi-final against Somerset at Edgbaston.

Shahid Afridi said: “I am very pleased to be returning to Hampshire, I really enjoyed my previous spells there and I’m looking forward to spending some time on the beautiful south coast and playing some serious cricket in front of the Hampshire fans at the Ageas Bowl.”

The big-hitting all-rounder is hugely experienced, having played in all of the major T20 competitions across the world and he currently holds the record for the most wickets in T20 Internationals.

Hampshire Director of Cricket, Giles White said: “This year it has been a challenge to get the top players over for significant periods of the Blast so we are delighted that he is available for the entire tournament.* Shahid made a huge impression last time he was with us and his return is a major boost ahead of our T20 campaign.”

 

[TalhaSyed]

Will be great to see Boom Boom in UK this summer InshAllah!

 

[anuk]

It might actually help breathe some life into the worst t20 league there is

 

[HitWicket]

Last time he was down here he did pretty well but if I remember correctly he messed us up in the semi final super over with both bat and ball. Not too sure what to think of it, was hoping we wouldn't sign a spinner with both Liam Dawson here and Mason Crane breaking through.

 

[HitWicket]

This

He the proceeded to bowl medium pacers (didn't try and put much spin on most of them I believe) in the super over and get hit for 16 then come out to bat and faced 4/6 balls scoring a total of 4 runs before getting out .

 

[Majid Khan]

What's the point, he rarely scores more than 30 and he has already taken his 5-wicket haul for this calendar year.

 

[Saj]

I guess one of the incentives for teams to sign him is that he adds numbers to the attendance figures and that obviously helps with revenue.

 

[CricketAnalyst]

What's the point, he rarely scores more than 30 and he has already taken his 5-wicket haul for this calendar year.

A very large number of his 20's are match-winning or match turning and all his 30s are.

There is a real difference between 30@200+ and 30@120 of the average guy.

 

[Majid Khan]

^ I think you will find those days are gone when Afridi and probably Jayasuriya were the only two guys who could score quick runs at strike rates nearly 200 - these days even England has half a dozen of these guys.

 

[HitWicket]

Rumoured that it'll be announced this evening that he's signed for Hampshire again.