Watch out when Shahid Afridi comes out to bat during the ICC Cricket World Cup. The Pakistan allrounder has said he will be out to retake the record for the fastest one-day century now held by South Africa’s AB de Villiers. Afridi and the Pakistan squad departed Karachi overnight en route to New Zealand where they will play two ODIs before the World Cup. Pakistan’s hero has announced he will retire from ODIs after the World Cup – but will continue to play T20 cricket – and wants to leave the 50-over game with a bang. “You never plan out to set such records. It just happens when you have a very special day and your confidence is sky high,” Afridi told an Indian sports channel.
“If everything works out for me and it is my special day than I will try to improve the record set by AB de Villers in New Zealand or in the World Cup.” Afridi spoke of his record during Australia’s tour of the UAE for a series against Pakistan, joking he often re-watched video highlights of his 37-ball century as a 16-year-old in his debut one-day international innings.
Afridi held the record for the fastest one-day hundred for a more than 17 years after blasting 102 off 37 balls against Sri Lanka in Nairobi in October 1996. “It just happened that day it was my special day and everything clicked,” said Afridi. “I hope I get another special day in the coming World Cup if it can happen I will try to get back the record of which I was always proud. “But realistically speaking I know that at the number I come to bat at these days one can score a half century but it is really difficult to get a hundred but you never know it could my special day. Afridi’s record was beaten by New Zealand’s Corey Anderson on January 1, 2014, in Queenstown against the West Indies by just one ball.
South African De Villiers bettered that record last week, also against the West Indies, scoring a century from just 31 balls in the rare air of Johannesburg’s Wanderers Stadium. “He (De Villiers) played like a champion to get the record and it was his special day,” said Afridi. Pakistan play New Zealand in Wellington (January 31) and Napier (February 3) before two further warm-up games in Australia before their World Cup blockbuster opening match against India in Adelaide on February 15. Afridi, nicknamed “Boom Boom” in Pakistan for his explosive hitting, said the evolution of batsmen, and their equipment, meant he believed 400-run totals would soon become commonplace in one-day cricket. “After the rule changes in 50 overs cricket and with the popularity of T20 cricket things are now tilted in the fauour of batsmen and in coming days we could see even totals of 400 go down easily,” he said. “Limited overs cricket has really changed dramatically in the last couple of years.”
