Shaheen Shah Afridi just turned 22 after completing 200 international wickets. In the final contest of the historic home series, the left-arm pacer became only the third pacer to reach the milestone at the age of 21. Since his debut in 2018, the young pacer has become a nightmare for the batters all across the world. The star pacer is known for opening the bowling for his team and providing early breakthroughs.
Shaheen has a knack for picking up crucial wickets in the first over of the innings no matter the format. He often bamboozled batters on his very first ball of the innings which makes his first over a sight to behold. Here is a look at the seven times Shaheen Afridi dismissed batters for a duck.
Opening the batting for Australia in the third ODI, Travis Head was supposed to be the danger man for Pakistan due to his tremendous form. However, it was Shaheen Afridi who proved to be the real danger, uprooting the stumps on the first delivery. The centurion of the first ODI walked back for a golden duck, courtesy of the swinging full toss by Shaheen Shah Afridi.
Shaheen Afridi cleaned the Australian skipper up off the first ball in the all-important semi-final of the T20 World Cup 2022. Bringing the ball back in to bowl the in-swinger, Shaheen Afridi sent back Aaron Finch for a golden duck.
Touring England last year, Shaheen Afridi bowled out Zak Crawley on his first ball. Shaheen nailed a toe-crushing yorker to hand the English batter a golden duck. Although this wasn’t in Shaheen’s first over, it needed a mention. When it comes to angling the ball into the wickets, there is nobody better than Shaheen Afridi.
Shaheen Afridi proved his class in the spin-friendly condition of Bangladesh as well. Bowling to the opener Saif Hassan, the tall pacer tricked him with a full toss in the 2nd T20I last year at Sher-e-Bangla Stadium. Although the umpire was not convinced at first, the Ultra-Edge confirmed that Saif Hassan had no time to bat the lethal delivery. Hence, he walked back for a duck.
In the 3rd T20I of the English tour 2020, young Shaheen Shah Afridi stunned Jonny Bairstow and the viewers with a toe-crushing yorker. Bairstow had to walk back for a duck in complete disarray as Shaheen celebrated an important wicket of his career.
Another first over, another full toss by Shaheen Afridi, and another Aaron Finch wicket. The left-arm pacer dismissed the Australian captain, Aaron Finch, on the first ball in the second ODI at Gaddafi Stadium. The swing in the air deceived the opener, catching him off-guard in front of the stumps.
Bowling the most important spell of his career, Shaheen Shah Afridi got the Indian opener, Rohit Sharma, for a golden duck. The very first delivery was a fiery full toss and Rohit Sharma did not know how to play it.
The list goes on as Shaheen Shah Afridi keeps shining with the new ball. 22-year-old the left-arm pacer is set to break many records in the future seeing his exceptional talent.