“I practiced with Lala at the Moin Khan Academy. I was working on my power-hitting technique and batting [with Shahid Afridi]Shaheen Afridi said while talking Cricket Pakistan Well, Shaheen’s hard work during those practice sessions (batting) was quite visible in the Pakistan Super League earlier this year.
The left-arm pacer who has already stamped his authority with the ball at the highest level is now slowly making a mark with his batting as well. He scored a fifty against Peshawar Zalmi in PSL 2023, then hit a four and a six against the same opposition in the Eliminator match to take his team Lahore Qalandars to the final of the tournament, but what happened in the final against Multan Sultans was just Extraordinary.
The Qalandars were in trouble at 112/5 when Shaheen entered. Interestingly, he pushed himself ahead of someone like David Wiese, who has the ability to fire all guns blazing.
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While the Lahore side were in trouble, at the other end they had a well-set Shafiq keeping the scoreboard moving.
Shaheen who walked into the middle at number seven didn’t really waste much time. On the first ball of the 16th over, he cleared his front leg, went down on his back knee and lofted a length ball from Usama Mir out of the park at long on. But this left-handed batsman could collect only one run in the next two balls.
Surprised, what happened suddenly? Well, nothing really.
“The Batsman” Shaheen Afridi was warming up. He was preparing himself to face Ihsanullah, one of the most successful bowlers of the tournament. The two came face to face in the 17th over and it took just one ball for Shaheen to wreak havoc on the youngster.
Ihsanullah bowls a sharp, back-of-a-length delivery to the left-hander who reads it perfectly, gives himself some space and pulls it over deep backward square leg. The pacer changed his bowling side for a quick wicket but nothing really changed.
Shaheen turned her gaze inside. Ihsanullah bowled a wide, fuller delivery and the Lahore Qalandars skipper got enough bat on it to get a boundary over extra cover.
Ihsanullah was now completely on the backfoot. He was bowling fast but had no idea about his line and length and the kind of form Shaheen was in, it was just a matter of making the connection between bat and ball.
He did exactly that on the fourth valid delivery of the over.
Ihsanullah, this time goes full and sharp but lofts it into the slot to give Shaheen a chance to hammer it over long-off.
Shaheen’s attack in this over resulted in Ihsanullah bowling a wide and eventually conceding 24 runs in the over. Perhaps that was all Lahore needed to make a comeback after losing a few quick wickets.
The Qalandars skipper didn’t stop as he took on the pacers and hit some maximums and a boundary to remain unbeaten on 44 in 15 overs and help the team post 200/6 in 20 overs.
The interesting part of Shaheen’s batting was not just his power hitting but the way he worked against variations of fast bowlers. The left-handed batsman not only swung his bat but also watched the ball closely. He had a reply of 144 kmph deliveries as well as bowling at 127 kmph. Apart from that, Shaheen didn’t try to show any innovation except for one in the final over when he went across the stumps and tried to scoop it at short fine leg.
The left-handed batsman missed the ball and shared a laugh with his counterpart Mohammad Rizwan, who sarcastically indicated to him not to attempt such a stroke.
Shafiq’s Fort
Lahore Qalandars were looking stable at one stage before the wicket of Fakhar Zaman in the 12th over, followed by a pair of dismissals in the same over by Usma Mir to get Sam Billings and Ahsan Bhatti on the trot in the 14th over.
In the very next over, Lahore lost Sikandar Raza and took 5 wickets for 112 runs.
The Qalandars needed someone to take charge and go after the Multan bowlers and Shaheen did exactly that. But they also needed someone to stay with them and Shafiq took that responsibility.
The two batsmen put on a quick 66-run partnership for the sixth wicket, before Shafiq was eventually dismissed for 65 off 40 balls.
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His batting was divided into three phases. The first, where Shafiq got another chance when Kieron Pollard dropped him off his own ball. The second fort was all about holding one end and keeping the scoreboard ticking.
The third and final phase was to score runs at a fast pace. It was around the 18th over when Shafiq decided to fire on all cylinders. He hit two fours off Abbas Afridi on the fourth and fifth ball of the over and maintained the strike by taking a single off the last ball.
Chafiq then started the penultimate over with a maximum and hit two more fours before finally being caught by Rossouw at deep backward point.
Shaheen – The bowler does his job!
Multan Sultans got off to a good start chasing the target. He had scored 105 runs in just 10 overs but Rashid Khan did magic with the ball. He removed Rilee Rossouw, who had already scored a half-century to give Lahore the breakthrough, and then took another wicket of Rizwan (34 off 23).
Multan had two new batsmen, Kieron Pollard and David Wiese out in the middle and both started the defending campaign.
It was then that Shaheen launched himself into the attack. The left-arm pacer bowled a slower one in the slot to Pollard, who went for the big hit but missed it and was caught by Fakhar Zaman at mid-wicket. Qalandars had the wicket they wanted.
Shaheen then came back on strike in the 18th over with Tim David. He bowled an off-cutter to David and the batsman did not shy away from driving it towards the wide long-on region. It would have gone over the rope but a brilliant fielding effort from David Wiese ensured that he not only stopped the maximum but also took a brilliant catch.
Courtesy, Wiese’s brilliance in the field, Shaheen took his second wicket but was in no mood to stop. Khushdil Shah hit him for a boundary at third and then rotated strike at fourth and Anwar Ali was up against him.
Shaheen bowled a low full toss outside the leg stump line and Anwar tried to deny it on the side but couldn’t really get the bat down and bowled through the legs. The left-arm pacer then took another wicket of Usama Mir, who was caught by Haris Rauf for a duck. Shaheen returned with figures of 4/51 in 4 overs.
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Thrilling final over!
Multan Sultans needed 13 runs in the last over and Zaman Khan had the ball in hand. Sultan could only manage three runs in the first three balls. But an overthrow at the non-striker’s end in the fourth over brought the equation down to 2 for 8 needed.
Khushdil hit the last ball for a four over extra cover and Multan now needed 4 for 1. Zaman bowled a precise yorker but somehow Khushdil managed to dig it through long-on in the gap and scored a couple of runs but couldn’t really complete the third. One. Multan Sultans eventually managed to post 199/8 and lost the final by 1 run.
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