Pakistan bowling coach Azhar Mahmood has heaped praise on young pacer Shaheen Afridi and believes he has the potential to become the best bowler in the world in the future.
The 18-year-old has been making waves in international cricket ever since he made his T20 debut against West Indies in April, last year following his breakthrough displays in the 2018 ICC U19 World Cup and the Pakistan Super League (PSL).
Young Afridi has already established himself as a regular for Pakistan in all thee formats after being given his maiden Test cap in the recent tour of South Africa. The teenager is currently playing in his second PSL campaign for Lahore Qalandars and has already put in an eye-catching display against Karachi Kings.
Writing in his weekly blog for pakpassion.net, Mahmood lauded the youngster’s progress over the last year in international cricket.
“I must say that I am extremely impressed with Shaheen Shah Afridi’s progress so far. He already has skill and potential and is fast learning the art of fast-bowling which is extremely encouraging for us. We are, however, working on a few things with him namely on his run-up and his delivery stride so that it is more balanced,” wrote Mahmood.
Afridi recently made his Test debut for Pakistan.
“In my mind, there is no doubt that he will get better and better with time and he has all the ingredients to become one of the best bowlers in the world. He has everything and most importantly he is mentally sharp, he wants to learn, he wants to adapt his game because he is not shy to try different things with the ball.
“As a coach it makes things much easier when you have a bowler who is eager to learn and willing to try different things to improve himself.”
Afridi has performed admirably for Pakistan across all thee formats so far. His 10 ODI appearances have fetched 19 wickets while he has 13 scalps in nine T20s. In his three Test appearances, the left-armed pacer has picked up 12 wickets with a best of 4-64.
