Shaheen Shah Afridi: The 2nd All-round “Boom Boom” Afridi of Pakistan?

[Suleiman]

I think it’s time we address this elephant in the room, and how it can develop over the next few months and onwards. Think it deserves a separate thread because of how sudden this transformation has been.

We saw a slight glimpse of this in the t20 WC game Vs India, where Haris Rauf and SSA gave a final flourish to get us to a decent score at the massive ground of Melbourne (makes Pindi stadium’s boundaries in PSL look like a pool table).

But the way he’s batted in the PSL has been a surprise. Have heard mixed reviews of his first 50 as well as this one in the final.

Was he justified in promoting himself in the games prior to the final? Were these fluke innings or has he really dialed into some sort of latent allrounder abilities of the clan?

Most important: is this going to be a distraction from his bowling (kind of like Shahid Afridi when he got a bit too carried away with being a batsman initially), or something we should welcome as an added bonus (like Wasim Akram’s batting potential)?

 

[Titan24]

I have seen it before with quality athletes, Cummins is a recent example from cricket that comes to the mind. Shaheen when had his knee injured, couldn’t ball as it requires a lot of pressure on the knees but at the same time during a certain part of his rehab phase he would have been able to bat, so as a hardworking guy and natural athlete he most likely put that time to use to work on his batting in the nets. Cummins did the same when he was out with back injury with plenty of time during rehab with no bowling. Not to forget with such injuries you never know if you will be able to revive your career and at what level so they also wanted to give themselves that extra cushion to still remain valuable as players. Good thing is that his fitness is looking good as well.

Shaheen though with his natural backlift and flow seems to have a solid hitting technique.

His batting surely gonna come in handly for Pak across formats to provide that extra batting depth.

 

[RyanRyan10]

Can Shaheen Shah Afridi become a world-class all-rounder?

A proven match winner with the ball has shown great improvement in his batting. He scored at a strike rate of 168 in this PSL, playing some wonderful cameos including the one in the final, for which he was awarded the player of the match.

So can he become a world class allrounder or will he become someone like Wasim Akram, who would be inconsistent with the bat but play useful cameos once in a while?

 

[as-95]

I have seen it before with quality athletes, Cummins is a recent example from cricket that comes to the mind. Shaheen when had his knee injured, couldn’t ball as it requires a lot of pressure on the knees but at the same time during a certain part of his rehab phase he would have been able to bat, so as a hardworking guy and natural athlete he most likely put that time to use to work on his batting in the nets. Cummins did the same when he was out with back injury with plenty of time during rehab with no bowling. Not to forget with such injuries you never know if you will be able to revive your career and at what level so they also wanted to give themselves that extra cushion to still remain valuable as players. Good thing is that his fitness is looking good as well.

Shaheen though with his natural backlift and flow seems to have a solid hitting technique.

His batting surely gonna come in handly for Pak across formats to provide that extra batting depth.

Interesting points. Great insight and you could certainly be right. One thing for sure is that SSA is seriously hard working.

 

[Rana]

Don’t want him to go down the Irfan Pathan route

Irfan was a brilliant fast/medium pace swing bowler but his aspirations to become an all-rounder lead to his downfall as a bowler

Shaheen should just try to become the best number 8 in the world. Nothing more

 

[zaidihusain]

I don't think SSA should promote himself up the order in batting with this hit & trial method. Yes, he managed to score in couple of PSL matches but it can backfire in internationals. There is a specialist player for each position in batting, you don't need to occupy his space unnecessarily just to test your skills. His main focus must be to return to test cricket with full fitness and also work on his death over bowling in ODIs / T20Is

 

[KingOfPakBreakfast]

Don’t want him to go down the Irfan Pathan route

Irfan was a brilliant fast/medium pace swing bowler but his aspirations to become an all-rounder lead to his downfall as a bowler

Shaheen should just try to become the best number 8 in the world. Nothing more

Agreed. We already have an example closer to home, in Faheem Ashraf, who never has a clear role defined for him.

Shaheen should always be a bowler who can surprise you with his batting. That’s all we need from him. Being the best no. 8 in the world is a good role definer.

 

[TheSultan]

Agreed with a few posters here. Shaheen should be a good surprise package rather than even thinking about all rounder status

 

[Firebat]

He’s the only world class bowler in the country. Don’t ruin it with some dreams about batting.

 

[Kroll]

It was fantastic viewing no doubt about it but PSL is a mickey mouse cricket, we shouldn't get too carried away. Elite level intl cricket is different kettle of fish.

There are other people to do the job but SSA is handy backup option if required.

 

[TheSultan]

What I really hope hasn’t happened is that Shaheen has somehow made a deduction that one day, one injury too many and as a cricketer he’s done for. Hence pushing his batting and hitting ability.

Is this the beginning of the end?

 

[sweep_shot]

PSL had shorter boundaries. I wouldn't call him an all-rounder yet.

If he plays a few innings like that in international cricket, I guess we can call him one.

Till then, he is no "Boom Boom". As a matter of fact, it is an insult to Shahid Afridi to call Shaheen that.

 

[ArabKnight]

Hasan Ali is better than Shaheen in batting.

 

[KingOfPakBreakfast]

PSL had shorter boundaries. I wouldn't call him an all-rounder yet.

If he plays a few innings like that in international cricket, I guess we can call him one.

Till then, he is no "Boom Boom". As a matter of fact, it is an insult to Shahid Afridi to call Shaheen that.

He absolutely is a work in progress, but some of the sixes he hit in the final would’ve cleared any boundary.

 

[Mainul]

He’s the only world class bowler in the country. Don’t ruin it with some dreams about batting.

Yes. Don't make him a Irfan Pathan.

But, I m afraid that after that injury in the final this SSA looks a different bowler. He seems to lost his bowling mojo and looks not threatening.

 

[Shoaib Akhtar 100 MPH]

This is an added boost to our lower order Batting line up and strengthens the tail.

Shaheen is committed to his fast bowling but he is a courageous character that wants to be continually involved throughout the game whether batting, bowling or fielding and has a great attitude.

A superb all round asset with potential to be a good solid number 7/ 8 in the future.