Shahid Afridi calls it a day

One of the finest cricketers to have graced the Pakistan Cricket team called it a day in his international career. Shahid Afridi has represented the Green Jersey in 398 ODIs scoring 8064 runs and picking 395 wickets. He played 98 T20Is in which he scored 1405 runs and grabbed 97 wickets. Although his test career was short lived with just 27 test matches, he scored 1716 runs and managed 48 wickets.

Shahid made his debut at the age of 16 in 1996 vs Kenya. The all-rounder marked his presence with a scintillating 37-ball century in his debut Innings against Sri Lanka. This century was the fastest ever at that time with the record lasting for nearly 18 years. The veteran became popular for his humongous sixes (one being 158 meters long) and the impressive balls-per-six figure.

The fearless and destructive batsman holds the record of 351 sixes, the maximum number for any batsman in ODIs. Afridi who is popularly known as BOOM BOOM Afridi will always be remembered for his batting and deceiving leg spin. There have been various instances when this man single-handedly snatched the game from the opponents, one of them being his 34(18) v/s INDIA in the ASIA CUP. The Pakistan batsman went on hitting two consecutive sixes in the last over to seal a victory against arch rivals.

Afridi also became for (in)famous for his multiple retirements but is now expected to say a final bye to international cricket. Being the only player in the history of ODI cricket with a special combo of 8000+ runs and more than 350 wickets, Shahid Afridi is a rare jewel, that the world cricket and Pakistan cricket will miss for the upcoming years.