ISLAMABAD – When Pakistan’s Shahid Afridi smashed a 37-ball century againstSri Lanka in 1996, he not only registered the fastest-ever one-day ton, healso became the youngest player to score 100 runs in an international.
Or did he?
In a new autobiography, the fiery all-rounder says he was aged 19 when heblasted onto the world stage with his record-breaking innings, and not 16as history suggests.
“For the record, I was just nineteen, and not sixteen like they claim,” hewrites in “Game Changer”, which went on sale this week.
“I was born in 1975. So, yes, the authorities stated my age incorrectly.”
Confusingly, if he was born in 1975, it would mean he was either 20 or 21at the time.
Wisden, the sport’s recognised almanac, still lists Afridi as the youngestplayer to score a one-day ton — aged 16 years and 217 days — but hisfastest-century record lasted until 2014 when it was eclipsed by NewZealander Corey Anderson, and by South African AB de Villiers a year later.
Cricket experts and fans have long questioned the purported ages of variousAsian players — particularly in junior competitions — and Afridi’srevelation will only fuel the controversy.
In the weeks leading up to his record-breaking Pakistan debut, Afridi hadbeen playing in an international under-19 tournament in the West Indies.
Pakistan cricket authorities claimed Hasan Raza was 14 years old when hemade his Test debut against Zimbabwe in 1996, but Wisden doesn’t recognisethat claim.
The age controversy is just one of many in Afridi’s book, in which he laysinto former team mates with no holds barred — calling Javed Miandad,Pakistan’s most successful Test batsman, “a small man”.
“He hated the way I batted,” writes Afridi of the 1999 India tour, accusingMiandad of not giving him batting practice before the Chennai Test in whichhe scored a century to help Pakistan to a 12-run victory.
Read Top Stories
“Javed’s attitude towards me touched a new low. Before the post-matchceremony, he pulled me aside and said ‘Listen, buddy, you’d better makesure you thank me in the presentation’. I couldn’t believe it.
“That day I lost all my respect for Javed Miandad, supposedly one of thegreats of the game but in reality, a small man.”
Afridi described another team mate, Waqar Younis, as a mediocre captain andterrible coach.
He said Imran Khan, a former captain and now prime minister of Pakistan,had an “abrasive style leadership”.
“By the way, they say that Khan… runs his cabinet the same way,” he added.
Afridi heaped praise on the late Bob Woolmer, however, the Englishman whocoached Pakistan during his best years.
“I can safely say that the only coach who gave me that kind of support wasWoolmer. My batting stats were better under him,” he writes.
He described former Indian opener Gautam Gambhir, with whom he clashedon-field in 2007, as “a burn out who had attitude problems”.
“I remember that run-in with him in 2007 tour when he completed a singlewhile running straight into me. The umpires had to finish it off or I wouldhave,” he said.
“Clearly we had a frank bilateral discussion about each other’s femalerelatives.” -APP/AFP
