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Pakistan cricket's next big superstar

TheNightWatchman

TheNightWatchman

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It was inevitable. Shahid Khan Afridi gets the loudest roar from the Lahore crowd yet again. First ball :four and the crowd go berserk. Whether it be in Sharjah, Nottingham, Lords cricket ground, or Lahore. This guy has the majority of the Pakistani section of the crowd behind him. You will not hear a louder roar from the crowd in Pakistan unless this man comes out in the middle.
"Oh is he the king of Lahore, Peshawar, Karachi & Nottingham"
But why has Pakistan not found the next big superstar??
Afridi's popularity in Pakistan can only be rivaled with Imran's in the 80s my Dad says. I don't know if it's his charisma or simply the way he plays cricket.
And this is what Pakistan cricket has been missing. There is noone to pick up the mantle. Once Afridi retires I don't see anyone taking his place.
Afridi, like Imran and Akram before him became a household name. Not least because of his performances in the 2009 T20 WC. Any Pakistani who doesn't even watch cricket would know his name. Infact his popularity extends beyond Pakistan. (I went to Sri Lanka last summer and the kids over there love Afridi. It's pretty similar in Aus too.)
Amir came close to being that Next big thing. He was really popular in 2010...But now he obviously can't be the poster boy of Pakistan cricket due to the obvious circumstances
Who do you guys see as the next Pakistani superstar...or has Pakistan simply not found the guy?
 
Mamoon said:
Next superstar is already here . . . :shehzad
Click to expand...

He certainly had the innate physical ability along with poster boy looks but unfortunately he is a complete tool.
Only if he had a brain, this void could HV been filled
 
Wasim Akram the Sultan of Swing
Shezad the Sultan of Selfies
images
 
axl100mph said:
He certainly had the innate physical ability along with poster boy looks but unfortunately he is a complete tool.
Only if he had a brain, this void could HV been filled
Click to expand...

Yea his attitude problem killed his momentum along with the poor performances . He's not as bad a player as people make him out to be. But I don't see the guy even coming close to Afrid in terms of popularity
 
axl100mph said:
He certainly had the innate physical ability along with poster boy looks but unfortunately he is a complete tool.
Only if he had a brain, this void could HV been filled
Click to expand...

What innate ability? Dude opens the batting in this age of short boundaries, big bats and poor bowlers and strikes at 70. Cannot rotate strike for his life. Pakistan should open with Umar Akmal.
 
axl100mph said:
He certainly had the innate physical ability along with poster boy looks but unfortunately he is a complete tool.
Only if he had a brain, this void could HV been filled
Click to expand...

Lol innate ability. hahahaha good joke.
 
Statsman said:
What innate ability? Dude opens the batting in this age of short boundaries, big bats and poor bowlers and strikes at 70. Cannot rotate strike for his life. Pakistan should open with Umar Akmal.
Click to expand...

He has stroke making capability, especially through the offside and is one of the few pak batsmen who can hook/pull 140+ bowlers.


But he has issues with his leg side play as well as strike rotation, especially against spin. These r not very difficult to overcome if one admits to them n tries to iron them out.
However, it is his narcissism rather than any technical deficiency that is his biggest enemy.
 
Point is superstars generally don't bat at an SR of 70. No matter what the purist say, for a batsman mass popularity is achieved by making quick runs, and if you can hit sixes, nothing better.
 
axl100mph said:
He has stroke making capability, especially through the offside and is one of the few pak batsmen who can hook/pull 140+ bowlers.


But he has issues with his leg side play as well as strike rotation, especially against spin. These r not very difficult to overcome if one admits to them n tries to iron them out.
However, it is his narcissism rather than any technical deficiency that is his biggest enemy.
Click to expand...

Its not one way really, he has the hunger for big scores (one mental aspect where he is good) which is missing in more talented Pakistani batsmen (Maqsood, Umar etc.) but not being able to pierce a field is a technical deficiency in itself, and he needs lots of improvement in his game which I doubt he is focusing on (that's where the narcissism and the other mental aspects come in). Still a work in progress and far from being Pakistan's big super star.
 
Neferpitou said:
Lol innate ability. hahahaha good joke.
Click to expand...

He isn't gifted as :uakmal but is twice the stroke player that:azhar is. However, the latter is a grounded as a person and admits to his faults.
Unfortunately this can't be said for :ahmed
 
It isn't going to be a batsman, not with this lot. This is putting enormous pressure on him, and maybe people won't be able to forgive him, but the only one who can sustain that buzz might be Amir.

Wahab has been made into a hero but I'm not convinced of his consistency. I think Amir could reach at least Wahab level.
 
Statsman said:
Its not one way really, he has the hunger for big scores (onial aspect where he is good) which is missing in more talented Pakistani batsmen (Maqsood, Umar etc.) but not being able to pierce a field is a technical deficiency in itself, and he needs lots of improvement in his game which I doubt he is focusing on (that's where the narcissism and the other mental aspects come in). Still a work in progress and far from being Pakistan's big super star.
Click to expand...

Agreed, this is where he fails to realize. He is just deluded and his Twitter junk is there for everyone to see.
These grandiose delusions r the reason why he looks much more worse than what he actually is.

In my honest opinion, there r two technical flaws that he fails to realize.
1)he just camps on the back foot and has no front food stride, hence he is a tentative driver.
This fault also made him fail at the world cup where he didn't get to the pitch of the ball n got caught in the slips.

2) he doesn't play the ball late. u would see him just pushing anything directed on his stumps to midwicket as he just jabs ag thr ball.
The same ball if played under thr eyes could br pushed behind square.

However, I still think he is a better player against good bowling attacks than maqsood.

The latter isn't as good as people here make him out to be. His calibre was on show against aus in that quarter final where he couldn't get anything away and lobbed a catch to point through a bottom handed swish.

He struggles to play cricketing shots, doesnt understand the art of manipulating the field and has even a worse technique than selfie boy.
 
cricfan14 said:
It isn't going to be a batsman, not with this lot. This is putting enormous pressure on him, and maybe people won't be able to forgive him, but the only one who can sustain that buzz might be Amir.

Wahab has been made into a hero but I'm not convinced of his consistency. I think Amir could reach at least Wahab level.
Click to expand...

Wahab would never be a wicket taker as he hardly bowls attacking lines.
On the contrary, Amir can actually be incisive with his wicket taking mindset as well as skill and is therefore head n shoulders above :wahab
 
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axl100mph said:
Wahab would never be a wicket taker as he hardly bowls attacking lines.
On the contrary, Amir can actually be incisive with his wicket taking mindset as well as skill and is therefore head n shoulders above :wahab
Click to expand...

Yes my point is we've made Wahab a hero with one spell - did you hear the buzz his first over when he was running up?

But Amir IS heads and shoulders above. So if we've made Wahab marketable, then Amir WILL be our superstar.
 
It was Ajmal, but now he is tainted.
 
If these Pakistanis could worship Wasim Akram then Aamir will not have many issues as well to receive that grande love from the awaam.

I don't see any other cricketer who could come close to Aamir's match winning abilities. He is something else. You could see that during the T20 game against Lahore the way he stood out.

The only person who could come close in the future is Babar Azam. But he has a long road to cross.
 
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Prince of Pakistan said:
If these Pakistanis could worship Wasim Akram then Aamir will not have many issues as well to receive that grande love from the awaam.

I don't see any other cricketer who could come close to Aamir's match winning abilities. He is something else. You could see that during the T20 game against Lahore the way he stood out.

The only person who could come close in the future is Babar Azam. But he has a long road to cross.
Click to expand...

Being a good batsman does not necessarily mean Babar Azam will be the poster boy...Afridi was huge in the era of Saeed Anwar and Anwar was never really considered to be the "superstar"
 
It's not about the player's capabilities but the player's appeal to the general public.
Just like kids in the 80s would look up to Imran kids in the 2000s must have looked up to Afridi. Inzi, Saeed Anwar, MoYo were all better batsmen than Afridi but I highly doubt many looked up to them as good as they were
 
Mohammed amir
you like it or not he will be the most talked about c4icketer as soon as he steps in... which will create a buzz and he will end up getting alot of lime light. On top if he can perform well then he will be a house hold name.
 
iHammad said:
Haris sohail
Click to expand...

Lol! No, a superstar has to have charm along with exhibiting an exceptionally attractive game. There is a reason why misbah never achieved superstar status, despite being a statistician's dream
 
Its going to be none other than Mohammad Amir whether anyone likes it or not. He has the charisma of a super star, the attitude of a winner, and the talent to back it all up. Amir's impact will even make the wahabs and the junaids look like world beaters.

Besides.. Pakistan always loves its fast bowlers.
 
Ahmed Shehzad might well be the next superstar . But I don't think anybody in near future will have such a superstar stature like Shahid Afridi .
Even when shoaib , wasim , waqar , inzamam were playing Afridi was the biggest crowd puller .
Personally batting performance wise I think Babar azam and Saud Shakeel will be the real deal inshaAllah .
 
khanz141 said:
Its going to be none other than Mohammad Amir whether anyone likes it or not. He has the charisma of a super star, the attitude of a winner, and the talent to back it all up. Amir's impact will even make the wahabs and the junaids look like world beaters.

Besides.. Pakistan always loves its fast bowlers.
Click to expand...

I don't think he can do it....I mean if he even does become Pakistan's superstar he probably won't get the same reception around the world.
 
TheNightWatchman said:
Being a good batsman does not necessarily mean Babar Azam will be the poster boy...Afridi was huge in the era of Saeed Anwar and Anwar was never really considered to be the "superstar"
Click to expand...

If that's the case then only Aamir and Shehzad come close. Just like Afridi Shehzad already has many supporters and many haters.

But if Sachin could become the highest of all in especially Asia then the likes of Babar Azam have a chance as well with their attractive stroke play.
 
Prince of Pakistan said:
If that's the case then only Aamir and Shehzad come close. Just like Afridi Shehzad already has many supporters and many haters.

But if Sachin could become the highest of all in especially Asia then the likes of Babar Azam have a chance as well with their attractive stroke play.
Click to expand...

Sachin became huge the same reason Amir did--because he was a prodigy. A teenager that was playing better than his seniors.
Also Sachin was the lone wolf in his team and people loved watching him bat more than anyone else.

Afridi despite all his faults won countless games for Pak where as Shezad hasn't. Shezad is nowhere near Afridi in terms of star power. Afridi pulls crowds that Shezad can't
 
The chest thumping of restricting teams to lowly totals in the Champions Trophy aside, we need a batting superstar to be one of the top teams in the long run. I was hopeful when it comes to Babar, but unfortunately he doesn't have star quality.
 
Shadab has the looks and Hasan has the charisma. Hopefully they dont get success to their heads and stop improving. As for batting Babar needs a purple patch or Sharjeel returns with equal form and we have a bonafide batting superstar.
 
At the moment Amir is much ahead of any one in tge team.
But few have potential
sharjeel
Fakhar
Babar
 
Right now we have good batsmen in the team but no one has charishma like Afridi...really we curse him abuse him and didn't want him to be in team during his past few years but yet we should admit he is a super star.

If Sarfaraz continue with the success then he might achieve some status among cricket greats.
 
there is a new breed of stars coming up in Hasan, Shadab, Farhan, Babar...

going from a start to a superstar is really a culmination of on-field performance AND off-field personality

To be honest I think Hasan has the best chance of doing that. Its just easier to get behind a fast bowler for casual fans..
 
theariezman said:
Right now we have good batsmen in the team but no one has charishma like Afridi...really we curse him abuse him and didn't want him to be in team during his past few years but yet we should admit he is a super star.

If Sarfaraz continue with the success then he might achieve some status among cricket greats.
Click to expand...

he def wont if he continues to undermine his batting
 
Amir , Hassan , shahdab have charisma/personality Babar is good but he lacks charisma
 
There are a fare few in the current team who could be potential superstars in the next few years.
 
An year ago, I would have said Babar. But looking at things now, he seems to be too timid, or in better words, calm. Doesn't mean that I don't rate him, but that that he doesn't look like someone who can be a superstar.

Backing Hasan and Shadab - they have what it takes to attract people.
 
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It has to be Hasan Ali. The face of Pakistan cricket at the moment, and almost every pundit is in love with him already.
 
It will be Shadab Khan. The kid has something special...and he's already superstar material unlike the nervous wreck that is Babar Azam.
 
Babar, Haris, Sarfraz, Shadab (batsman, batsman, captain, all rounder).

P.S: my definition of superstar is not limited to looks, English, ambassador, hairstyles, sunglasses etc
 
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