Shaheen to lead Welsh Fire Archives

‘Whack them for sixes,’ Shadab Khan reveals his plan for facing Shaheen, Haris

Pakistan all-rounder Shadab Khan has revealed his batting plan against fellow Pakistani pacers Shaheen Afridi and Haris Rauf, in the upcoming The Hundred clash on Thursday.

Shadab Khan, currently playing for Birmingham Phoenix, shared his strategy for facing Welsh Fire’s Shaheen and Haris on the field. He simply aims to “Whack them for sixes.”

Shadab is playing in The Hundred for the first time, after missing out on earlier editions due to national commitments.

He made his debut in the rain-effected game against Northern Supercharges. Shadab got out for a duck before the match was abandoned due to rain.

“When you play against your friends and perform against each other, you’re teasing each other about it all year,” Shadab said.

He further added: “They’re my close mates, so I want to beat them – because they beat me in the PSL.”

Shaheen Afridi is currently the joint-second leading wicket-taker in the Hundred with five wickets from three games, while Haris Rauf has managed to pick up three wickets so far.

Pakistan’s pace duo will be replaced by New Zealand bowlers Lockie Ferguson and Matt Henry in the Welsh Fire’s side for the latter part of the Hundred, as they are set to leave for national duty.

Shadab Khan, along with Shaheen Afridi and Haris Rauf will depart from the UK to join Pakistan’s ODI squad for their series against Afghanistan later this month in Sri Lanka.

“Slowly, we are building up our workload,” Afridi says. “It won’t be easy in Sri Lanka – different weather as well – but hopefully in the Asia Cup and World Cup we will do very well.”

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Stuart Broad calls Shaheen Afridi his favourite bowler

Recently retired England pace bowler Stuart Broad showered praise on Pakistan’s premier fast bowler Shaheen Afridi’s bowling action and termed him one of his favourite bowlers.

Talking to Sky Sports, Broad said, “Shaheen Shah Afridi is one of my favourite bowlers to watch in the world. He’s got such a presence about him when he runs in, and I love to see bowlers run in with energy and vibrancy to their run up.”

He further praised Shaheen for his impressive bowling skills, “He’s got such a natural skill — the way that ball swings back into the right-handers is such a pleasure to watch,”

Stuart Broad recently retired from international cricket at the end of Ashes 2023, with 604 wickets in 167 test matches.

Shaheen Shah Afridi, who represented Stuart Broad’s home county side, Notts Outlaws in this year’s T20 Blast, made his presence felt with his all-round abilities.

The left-arm pacer picked up 21 wickets in 13 matches during his T20 Blast stint. He also made notable contributions with the bat for the Outlaws, whose journey ended after a five-wicket defeat against eventual champions Somerset in the quarter-final.

“And he represented the Notts Outlaws this summer, which is close to my heart. He’s one of the bowlers I admire hugely, and I want to see him do well,” Broad added.

Shaheen Afridi is playing for Welsh Fire in the ongoing The Hundred and has set the league on fire with his fiery pace bowling. He picked three wickets in two games. Shaheen’s team will face Oval Invincibles tomorrow.

The Hundred started on August 1, and the final is set to take place on August 27 at Lord’s. Trent Rockets are defending champions, having won the final in 2022 by defeating Manchester Originals by two wickets.

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Ihsanullah picked while Babar, Rizwan go unsold at the Hundred draft

LONDON: Babar Azam and Mohammad Rizwan were not chosen by any of the teams at the Hundred draft that saw PSL 8 sensation Ihansullah picked by Oval Invincibles to spearhead its pace attack in the 2023 season.

On Thursdays, teams completed their squads for the upcoming third edition of the Hundred – England’s first-of-its-sort league – after a breathless day of drafting.

A total of four players from Pakistan, including newly found pace sensation and Player of the Pakistan Super League season 8, Ihasanullah, were picked by three teams at the draft.

Pakistan fast bowler and two-time PSL-winning captain Shaheen Afridi was picked by the Welsh Fire to lead their attempted revival in the upcoming season after going in the £100,000 category at the player draft.

Similarly, Shadab Khan also went for £100,000, picked by Birmingham Phoenix in round two.

Afridi’s compatriot and right-arm fast bowler Haris Rauf was also chosen by the Fire in the later rounds as they aimed to drastically improve their arsenal after a winless 2022 season.

On the other hand, Ihsanullah, who impressed everyone with his extra pace and deadly bouncers during the recently-concluded PSL, was picked by Oval Invincibles in the £40,000 category.

Surprisingly, none of the teams showed their interest in picking Pakistan batters, including the Pakistan all-format captain Babar Azam and second-ranked T20I batter Mohammad Rizwan due to concerns over their availability.

It was not just Pakistan batters but a host of other top-performing T20 players went unsold due to various reasons which included Bangladesh star Shakib Al Hasan, West Indies all-rounder Kieron Pollard and Australian duo Marcus Stoinis and Adam Zampa, New Zealand seamer Trent Boult, and West Indies all-rounders Dwayne Bravo and Andre Russell to name a few.

It may be noted here that a total of 64 spots were filled across both men’s and women’s competitions at the Hundred draft.

16 spots are still available in the men’s competition which will be selected by virtue of The Vitality Wildcard Draft, scheduled to take place in the week commencing 3 July.

The eight-team tournament will kick off at Trent Bridge on August 1 with a double-header between Trent Rockets and Southern Brave – the first of 68 games across the third year of The Hundred.

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