An open letter to Shahid Afridi from a Lala fan

An open letter to Shahid Afridi from a Lala fan:

Dear Shahid Khan Afridi,

If there is anyone who can both strike the ball with such brute force and also possess dexterous spin bowling ability, then it has to be unquestionably you, Lala. At the age of 16, when everyone is expected to carry a heavy school bag and make their way to the school, you walked towards the 22 yards, with a bat in your hands; from where you captivated our hearts for years. In your very first innings it was ‘Boom Boom’ all the way as you plundered a century in just 37 balls, an innings that continues to reverberate and the very reminiscence of it sends us into great jubilation.

You are not a batsman of the type from whose willow class and elegance oozes out, but nevertheless the impact that you make with your hard and merciless hitting, the way how you majestically pummel the deliveries over the ropes is enough to prove your inestimable worth as a player. Only when you are batting, the crowd gets more chances to catch the ball than the fielders on the pitch. Your sheer presence on the field with a bat galvanized the bowlers into fear.

You hold the record of having thwacked the longest six in the history of cricket, that substantiates your intrinsic power hitting. You may be a little inconsistent with the bat, but nevertheless when you find your groove, you will cudgel and annihilate any type of bowler, leaving the repercussions to haunt them for a long time. Your 100 off 45 runs against our arch rivals India is still etched in my heart non-erased! You are in a league of your own with unmatched aggressive prowess with the bat, a tantalizing style unique for the amount of destruction it causes.

You are one of those selfless players who had a noble notion that the team as a whole is above any individual. Not only your batting, your top class leg spin bowling over the years has been a thing of joy for us. You possess a bag of tricks with the ball, though you are not a great turner of the ball, the faultless and unerring lines that you bowl is more than enough bamboozle the batters and pulverize their willows. Your sudden evolution as a top quality leg spinner has been a pleasant surprise for Afridians.

Your 500 international wickets speaks volumes of the guile and flair you possess with a ball in hand, the fear factor that you induce in the batsman’s minds. You have been the only player to score a 50 as well as pick fifer thrice in internationals. That bears ample witness to your virtuosity as a world class all rounder. Having been the leading wicket taker in the 2011 world cup, one of the leading wicket takers in the 2009 T20 world cup, you have given us lot of moments that we will cherish for a long time to come. You broke thousands of delicate hearts when you announced your retirement in 2011, but you came back much to our delight, probably after hearing our cries and lamentations. The way you carry yourself, your soft spoken demeanor and the way how you amicably sorted out your issues with the PCB is a true testimony to Shahid Afridi as a modest person.

Your retirement in 2015 crushed a million hearts and the gloom still remains.You have been a thoroughly entertaining character and have been a proud and irreplaceable ambassador of cricket and have given your all in every match, performing with unabated zeal and unrivaled passion.

Thank you for your service, thank you for the moments of rejoicing that you gave us, thank you for everything. If possible return to ODI cricket and reclaim the fastest century record that you were always proud of. You came you saw you conquered. Thank you LALA.

Yours truly,
An Afridian