Not Wasim Akram Or Waqar Younis. Shaheen Afridi Calls This Star As His Hero | Cricket News

Pakistan pacer Shaheen Afridi on Tuesday became the fastest pacer to pick 100 wickets in One-Day Internationals. Shaheen registered the feat during Pakistan’s Cricket World Cup match against Bangladesh at the Eden Gardens in Kolkata. Shaheen dismissed Bangladesh’s Tanzid Hasan to go past Australia’s Mitchell Starc in the list. Shaheen achieved the feat in 51 matches, overtaking Starc who achieved the same in 52 outings. After the match, Shaheen credited his success to former Pakistan captain Shahid Afridi, adding that he wants to play fearless cricket like his father-in-law.

“Records are meant to be broken, and it’s a happy occasion that we’ve set records for Pakistan. Shahid Afridi always gives us tips; he is my hero. My effort is to play cricket like him,” Shaheen, who is married to the former Pakistan captain’s daughter, was quoted as saying by GEO Sports.

The win over Bangladesh has lifted the morale inside the Pakistan dressing room, and Shaheen is confident that the team can still qualify for the semi-finals.

However, the 23-year-old acknowledged the mistakes made by the team, which saw them lose four games on the bounce.

“We still aim to finish in the top four. Our effort today was to finish the match quickly and improve the net run-rate. We didn’t perform well in the last few matches as a team; there were some costly errors. Some catches were dropped, and better fielding could have led to better results,” he added.

Pakistan will now take on ew Zealand on November 4 at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru.