Fan trolls Shahid Afridi in his Q&A session on Facebook

Shahid Afridi is without doubt one of cricket’s greatest entertainers. The 35-year-old’s tendency to play extravagant shots has resulted in his dismissal on numerous occasions, something which might not have gone down well with the Pakistan’s team management, but Afridi’s fans love him for his brand of fearless cricket.

Afridi likes to take on the bowling right from the word go and that has earned him the nickname ‘Boom-Boom’. The fireworks might have been few and far between, but that hasn‘t stopped his ardent fan base from vouching for Afridi’s talent over the years. And the cricketer took some out to talk with his fans while indulging in a Q&A session through his official Facebook account.

During his interaction with the fans, Pakistan’s T20 skipper was more than up for some playful banter as well.

When Afridi said that he was available for a 30-minute live chat, one fan quipped: “Kabhi 30 minute crease per ruk b jaya ker! (Stay at the crease for 30 minutes as well sometimes).” The all-rounder took it in his stride and responded: “Hahahaha – good one.”

Afridi also reiterated that he will stick to his decision to retire from ODI cricket, where he is the 5th leading wicket-taker in the format, but admitted that he regrets not having a better average with the bat.

On queries about his favourite cricketers, Afridi named Saeed Anwar as his favourite Pakistani cricketer and South African AB De Villiers as his favourite cricketer from outside Pakistan. Not surprisingly, Afridi cited the South African ODI skipper’s entertainment value as key in his decision.

Afridi also shared his view on the India-Pakistan bilateral ties and stated that the two neighbouring nations should play cricket, keeping political tensions aside.

Afridi is in England presently with his county side Northamptonshire where he shined with both bat and ball in the Natwest T20 Blast final against Lancashire. He finished with figures of 4-0-14-3 before smashing 26 of 18 balls but, unfortunately, his effort went in vain as Lancashire won the match by 13 runs.

It seems he is so immersed in his cricket that he wasn‘t aware India were playing against Sri Lanka yesterday.

Afridi, however, is a keen follower of Indian movies and had his say on his favourite actor from Bollywood.

Closer home, Afridi spoke of his respect for Misbah-Ul-Haq but didn’t quite share the same view when asked about Abdul Razzaq. The all-rounder has not featured for Pakistan for over four years but is still harbouring hopes of a recall. Razzaq is currently playing club cricket in England and Afridi feels that unless he shifts to Pakistan, the chances of him featuring for Pakistan again is very less.