Today marks the anniversary of Shahid Afridi’s glorious and the then fastest century in ODIs against Sri Lanka in 1996.
The cricket website, ESPNCricinfo posted an image of Boom Boom Afridi and his innings to celebrate the historic event.
In the response, former England cricketer Nick Compton replied sarcastically and said:
And never scored a run thereafter.
Coming from a cricketer who failed to play regularly for his country, playing only 16 Tests with a poor average of 28.70, the comment doesn’t make sense. Afridi may well have had an up and down career, however, he was a match-winner, one of the most feared batsmen of his time, a lethal leg-spinner on his day and a brilliant fielder.
Let’s have a look at his numbers:
| Mat | Inns | NO | Runs | HS | Ave | BF | SR | 100 | 50 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tests | 16 | 30 | 3 | 775 | 117 | 28.70 | 2150 | 36.04 | 2 | 2 |
The right-handed top-order batsman played his matches in 4 years, whereas Afridi represented Pakistan for well over 20 years consistently. Perhaps, Compton needs to think twice before saying anything. He was kicked out of the England team for consistently performing poorly in the Test arena.
Here are his numbers in his last 5 Tests:
| Runs | BF | SR | Pos | Dismissal | Inns | Opposition | Ground | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 26 | 68 | 38.23 | 3 | caught | 2 | v South Africa | Johannesburg | |
| 0 | 2 | 0.00 | 3 | caught | 4 | v South Africa | Johannesburg | |
| 19 | 52 | 36.53 | 3 | lbw | 2 | v South Africa | Centurion | |
| 6 | 9 | 66.66 | 3 | caught | 4 | v South Africa | Centurion | |
| 0 | 3 | 0.00 | 3 | caught | 1 | v Sri Lanka | Leeds | |
| 9 | 34 | 26.47 | 3 | caught | 1 | v Sri Lanka | Chester-le-Street | |
| 22* | 38 | 57.89 | 3 | not out | 4 | v Sri Lanka | Chester-le-Street | |
| 1 | 11 | 9.09 | 3 | caught | 1 | v Sri Lanka | Lord’s | |
| 19 | 35 | 54.28 | 1 | caught | 3 | v Sri Lanka | Lord’s |
What are your thoughts on Compton’s remarks? Let us know in the comments section.
