Shaheen Afridi is the No. 1 bowler for me: Babar Azam

Pakistan skipper Babar Azam has named his fellow countryman Shaheen Afridi as the best bowler in the world right now. Babar heaped praises on his teammate saying that Afridi works hard and deserves to be on the top-ten list in every format. To note, Shaheen has been performing extremely well for his country, especially in the white-ball formats.

Shaheen made his international debut in the T20I series at home against West Indies in 2018 and was impressive in his first outing. After performing well in T20Is, the left-arm pacer earned his maiden ODI call-up for the Asia Cup in the same year. The now 22-year-old got his Test cap in 2019.

‘He has to go further ahead in his career’ – Babar on Shaheen

Attending a press conference in Lahore on April 17 (Sunday), Babar said that he is lucky to have such a hardworking and talented bowler at his disposal.

“The way he [Shaheen] works and performs, he has to go further ahead [in his career]. Shaheen is the number one bowler for me. He will also stand first in the rankings,” Babar said during the press conference.

The skipper also talked about the significance of the recently concluded Australia series stating that it will convince other teams to come to Pakistan and play matches in the country.

“The crowd was fantastic throughout the series and seeing big stars on home soil is always a positive. This tour [of Australia] will play an important role for other teams to come to Pakistan.” Babar said.

Talking about Shaheen’s numbers in international cricket, the left-arm pacer has played 24 matches in the longest format of the game and has scalped 95 wickets. In 30 ODIs, Afridi has taken 59 wickets, while in 40 T20Is, the 22-year-old has struck 47 times at an average of 24.32. Afridi has a total of six five-wicket hauls in international cricket.

One of the most memorable spell of Shaheen came against India during the 2021 T20 World Cup, where the left-arm pacer scalped three wickets and rattled the Indian top order. As a result, Pakistan went on to beat India by a margin of ten wickets.