Fakhar Zaman, the Pakistani cricket team opener, has praised Shaheen Shah Afridi and acknowledged him as a “tough bowler.” During a Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) podcast, Zaman said that Shaheen had proved himself to be a challenging opponent. He further added that Shaheen is a tougher bowler to face than Mitchell Starc or Trent Boult.
Since his debut in 2018, Shaheen has represented Pakistan in 25 Tests, 36 ODIs, and 52 T20Is. After Mohammad Amir, Shaheen became the backbone of Pakistan’s pace attack. However, last year, he suffered a knee injury, which kept him out of cricket for more than two months. Shaheen returned to play in the World Cup in Australia but got injured in the tournament’s final. After the mega-event, he once again had to take a break for a couple of months.
Zaman, who has played 70 one-day internationals for Pakistan, also talked about the change in his technique. He said, “After 2016, my batting technique has changed a bit. I tried to work on my flaws and bring improvement to my game. I worked more on my power-hitting.”
Zaman recently became the third Pakistani batter to score three consecutive centuries in ODIs, following in the footsteps of Saeed Anwar, Zaheer Abbas, and Babar Azam (twice).