Watch out for Afridi Club

The name Afridi Cricket Club is a giveaway — their inspiration is certainly the hard-hitting former Pakistan skipper Shahid Afridi while they dress in greens. Last week, the club emerged as the winners of the Sharjah Invitation Twenty20 tournament, stopping Gyan Steel by 76 runs in the final at the Al Dhaid Cricket Village. Speaking to Gulf News, Khan Mohammad Afridi, the captain and the owner of the team, said about the team’s philosophy: “My players are strong as all of them come from Pakistan. Every member of the team is an all-rounder and hence can turn the match at any stage of the game.” It’s a coincidence that the team’s owner shares his surname with ‘Boom Boom’ Afridi, but there is no doubting their philosophy of the game. “All my players are Afridi fans and we all play the game like Afridi, hitting sixes and through attacking bowling. The team is named after my company which is Afridi Star Transport LLC,” said Afridi, who is also the managing director of the transport company. Afridi recruited all his players from Pakistan’s various cities. “My players are from Karachi, Lahore, Faisalabad, Gujranwala, Kohat and Jhelum. I have given them a visa and employment and we play every match with only our players and not inviting any players from other clubs to win tournaments like many clubs here do.” Last season, the Afridi Club won four tournaments in Umm Al Quwain, participated in three tournaments in Sharjah and won two titles and lost one in the final, and also won the Furjairah Ramadan Cup. “We lifted the most prestigious U Score Ramadan Cup organised by Sharjah Cricket Council and this year we have already reached the quarterfinals in Umm Al Quwain Premier League and Fujairah tournament.” The Afridi Club is not made up of reckless hitters. “My players have learned the game from top players and coaches. Our star player Sajid Ali was coached by Test star Younis Khan and Shahzad Mana is the cousin of all-rounder Abdul Razzaq. Our pacer Naveed Salim, who bowls at over 140km/h, has been picked into the UAE national team,” said Afridi. In the Sharjah Invitation Twenty20 final their right handed aggressive wicket-keeper batsman Abdul Shakoor hit 57 runs off just 28 balls with three sixers and seven fours. Forty out of his 57 runs comes in boundaries and most of the Afridi players relish hitting boundaries. Another player Hashmat Khan hit 46 runs to help Afridi pile up 208 for four and restrict Gyan Steel to 132 for 9. “All my players are either pacers or spinners so there is no shortage of variety in attack,” said a proud Afridi.