IND vs PAK: Pakistan’s pace spearhead Shaheen Shah Afridi completed 250 international wickets on Saturday. The 23-year-old bowler accomplished this milestone during Pakistan’s Asia Cup 2023 match against arch-rivals against India at Kandy. In the match, Shaheen took four wickets and gave away only 35 runs in his quota of 10 overs.
He got the key wickets of star batters skipper Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli in the beginning for cheap and then of all-rounders Hardik Pandya and Ravindra Jadeja when India seemed to be cruising towards a big score. In 120 international appearances, he has taken 251 wickets at an average of 23.81. He has taken six five-wicket hauls and a ten-wicket haul in international cricket.
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In 27 Tests, he has taken 105 wickets at an average of 25.58, with the best bowling figures of 6/51. He has four five-wicket hauls and a ten-wicket haul in Tests. Shaheen has played 41 ODIs in which he has taken 82 wickets at an average of 25.0, with the best bowling figures of 6/35. He has two five-wicket hauls in ODIs. In 52 T20Is, Shaheen has taken 64 wickets at an average of 22.73, with the best bowling figures of 4/22.
Shaheen overall is the 16th-highest wicket-taker for Pakistan in international cricket at an age of 23. He is miles away from joining the legends like Wasim Akram (916 wickets), Waqar Younis (789 wickets), Imran Khan (544 wickets), Shahid Afridi (538 wickets) and Saqlain Mushtaq (496 wickets), he is still going towards this direction with each fine performance.
Coming to the match, India elected to bat first and posted 266/10 in 48.5 overs. India struggled to take on the pace duo of Shaheen and Haris Rauf, with Shaheen getting skipper Rohit Sharma (11) and Virat Kohli (4) and Haris getting Shreyas Iyer (14) and Shubman Gill (10). India was reduced to 66/4. Then a 138-run partnership between Ishan Kishan (82 in 81 balls, with nine fours and two sixes) and Hardik Pandya (87 in 90 balls with seven fours and a six) helped India cross 200 runs.
Then, contributions from Ravindra Jadeja (14) and Jasprit Bumrah (16) helped India cross the 250-run mark. Shaheen (4/35) was the pick of the bowlers for Pakistan. Naseem Shah (3/36) and Haris Rauf (3/58) also bowled well for Pakistan.
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