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Johannesburg - The Nashua Dolphins have signed Pakistan all-rounder Shahid Afridi for the Durban-based team’s Standard Bank Pro20 campaign.
The 29-year-old Afridi will miss the Dolphins’ first match of the Pro20 series, due to Pakistan’s tour to Australia, but he is expected to be available for the rest of the tournament.
“Afridi is a flamboyant player who has developed enormously over the last two years in the twenty20 format of the game,” Jay Naidoo, the Dolphins’ manger of playing affairs, told SuperCricket.
“We hope he can bring his explosive batting and controlled bowling to our attack and get us in a position to win the Pro20,” Naidoo added.
Afridi is one of the world’s most destructive batsmen and he holds the record for the fastest one-day-international century. In 1996 he hammered his way to three figures off just 37 balls with the unfortunate Sri Lankan’s being on the receiving end of the right-hander’s assault.
Afridi is also a more than capable exponent of leg spin and his growing maturity has seen him become a vital component in Pakistan’s T20 bowling attack.
The Pakistani played a major role as his country claimed the World Twenty20 title in England in June this year and Naidoo hopes that some of the allrounder’s knowledge will rub off on his new teammates.
“The players are excited as he will bring a new dimension to our team.
“Last year we signed Sanath Jayasuriya and players of his and Afridi’s calibre leave a legacy with your team in terms of experience and how they can help the younger players in the team to progress,” Naidoo explained.
Afridi does bring a wealth of experience to Kingsmead, having played in 285 ODIs and 26 test matches, but it is his T20 stats that will have cricket fans in Durban salivating at the prospect of seeing the man nicknamed “Boom Boom” in action.
In his 24 T20 internationals Afridi has scored 535 runs with three half-centuries but, perhaps more importantly, his runs have come at a strike-rate of 147.71.
He has also captured 34 wickets with a best of four for 11 while conceding less than six runs to the over.
The Dolphins are hoping that Afridi improves their fortunes on the field but they are also hopeful that the signing of a marquee player will increase the number of paying spectators.
“Afridi is the type of player that is a crowd favourite as we saw during the Indian Premier League (IPL).
“Durban has a huge Asian community who really enjoyed the IPL and hopefully Afridi will draw those fans back to watching our domestic season,” Naidoo concluded.
Afridi has already had experience of South African domestic cricket as he turned out for Griqualand West during the 2003/4 season.
Johannesburg - The Nashua Dolphins have signed Pakistan all-rounder Shahid Afridi for the Durban-based team’s Standard Bank Pro20 campaign.
The 29-year-old Afridi will miss the Dolphins’ first match of the Pro20 series, due to Pakistan’s tour to Australia, but he is expected to be available for the rest of the tournament.
“Afridi is a flamboyant player who has developed enormously over the last two years in the twenty20 format of the game,” Jay Naidoo, the Dolphins’ manger of playing affairs, told SuperCricket.
“We hope he can bring his explosive batting and controlled bowling to our attack and get us in a position to win the Pro20,” Naidoo added.
Afridi is one of the world’s most destructive batsmen and he holds the record for the fastest one-day-international century. In 1996 he hammered his way to three figures off just 37 balls with the unfortunate Sri Lankan’s being on the receiving end of the right-hander’s assault.
Afridi is also a more than capable exponent of leg spin and his growing maturity has seen him become a vital component in Pakistan’s T20 bowling attack.
The Pakistani played a major role as his country claimed the World Twenty20 title in England in June this year and Naidoo hopes that some of the allrounder’s knowledge will rub off on his new teammates.
“The players are excited as he will bring a new dimension to our team.
“Last year we signed Sanath Jayasuriya and players of his and Afridi’s calibre leave a legacy with your team in terms of experience and how they can help the younger players in the team to progress,” Naidoo explained.
Afridi does bring a wealth of experience to Kingsmead, having played in 285 ODIs and 26 test matches, but it is his T20 stats that will have cricket fans in Durban salivating at the prospect of seeing the man nicknamed “Boom Boom” in action.
In his 24 T20 internationals Afridi has scored 535 runs with three half-centuries but, perhaps more importantly, his runs have come at a strike-rate of 147.71.
He has also captured 34 wickets with a best of four for 11 while conceding less than six runs to the over.
The Dolphins are hoping that Afridi improves their fortunes on the field but they are also hopeful that the signing of a marquee player will increase the number of paying spectators.
“Afridi is the type of player that is a crowd favourite as we saw during the Indian Premier League (IPL).
“Durban has a huge Asian community who really enjoyed the IPL and hopefully Afridi will draw those fans back to watching our domestic season,” Naidoo concluded.
Afridi has already had experience of South African domestic cricket as he turned out for Griqualand West during the 2003/4 season.
