Shaheen Afridi Tormented Afghanistan With Sheer Pace In Debut ODI Match

Afridi picked up 2 wickets on his ODI debut [x] Afridi picked up 2 wickets on his ODI debut [x]

Shaheen Afridi has lost his charm as of late, and looks a pale shadow of himself. Once known as a menacing pacer, the Pakistan bowler has lost considerable pace due to repeated knee injuries. However, he is still an effective bowler, especially in white-ball cricket.

Having made his debut for Pakistan in 2018, Shaheen has established himself as one of the best white-ball bowlers going around. The tall pacer showed flashes of brilliance his debut ODI game, which occurred against Afghanistan in 2018.

Shaheen shines with 2 crucial wickets on ODI debut

A couple of months prior to his ODI debut, he had an underwhelming start to his T20I career, and hence, the pressure was on the youngster to showcase his class against a rising Afghanistan side. 

Afghanistan batted first and started slowly with Mohammad Shahzad and Ihsanullah struggling for runs against a quality Pakistan pace attack. Pacer Mohammad Nawaz ripped through the top-order batters, and then Afghanistan had a brief partnership with Hashmatullah Shahidi and Asghar Afghan adding valuable runs.

The duo were going strong, and Pakistan needed a moment of brilliance to turn the tides, and that moment was provided by Shaheen Afridi , who knocked over the dangerous Asghar with a slower ball as his stumps went flying.

With a new found confidence, Shaheen got his second wicket, by dismissing Mohammad Nabi cheaply. He picked up just two wickets, but it was his spell which turned the match for Pakistan. On his debut, the left-arm seamer bagged 2 for 38 in 10 overs, and seemingly won the match for his team.

Though, Pakistan struggled to chase down 258, they achieved the target with 3 balls to spare, courtesy of a brilliant Shoab Malik performance (51* off 43 balls).

Shaheen gears up for Champions Cup 2024

After a disastrous Test match performance against Bangladesh in the first match, Shaheen was dropped from the second Test, which Pakistan lost.

Now, the former T20I skipper of the team prepares for the Champions Cup, which is a domestic ODI tournament organized by the PCB. Shaheen will represent the Lions. His team will take on Babar's Stallions in the match 2 of the competition on Friday.