Shahid Afridi made one of the more remarkable comebacks in international cricket in leading Pakistan to a crushing 126-run victory over the West Indies in the first one-day international at the Guyana National Stadium on Sunday.
Omitted from his country’s failed Champions Trophy campaign, the mercurial all-rounder returned the best-ever ODI bowling figures by a Pakistani, and the second best overall, in snaring 7/12 to rout the home side for just 98 off 41 overs after having top-scored with a typically swashbuckling 76 in the visitors’ total of 224/9.
“I try hard and I back myself and I want to thank people back home,” said Afridi.
“It’s not time for me to just survive in the team, but to give a lot to the team. I tried to stay positive.
“Whenever I got the ball in my zone I went for it. And what a pitch it was for me to bowl on. I just kept it simple, and it worked.”
This match represented yet another stunning spike in the 17-year international career of Afridi whose ability to delight and entertain with his extravagant manner has often been overshadowed by an almost chronic failure to deliver at the most critical of times.