'I wanted this record to stand until I retire', says a heart-broken Afridi

Afridi’s 37-ball century is now the second best

Pakistan all-rounder Shahid Afridi must have woken up to a rude shock on New Year’s Day when he was informed by his nephew that the world record for the fastest century in One-Day internationals has been broken by a certain Corey Anderson, whom Afridi referred to as someone never heard of.

“Corey, who”? was Afridi’s response to his nephew who broke the news out to the 33-year-old that the record he set by smashing a 37-ball century against Sri Lanka on his debut has been surpassed by New Zealand all-rounder Corey Anderson, who destroyed a hapless West Indies attack by scoring his 100 of 36 deliveries.

West Indies bowlers were subjected to an unbelievable assault early in the day when Jesse Ryder (104 off 51) and Corey Anderson (131* off 47) absolutely bludgeoned whatever came at them to set a target of 284 in 21 overs in a rain-affected ODI at Queenstown in New Zealand.

Here is what Afridi had to say on his record finally being broken: “I never heard his name and early morning my nephew told me about his feat and I sort of said the first news of 2014 is of my record being broken. But I must say it’s a great achievement and Anderson deserves all the praise. It needs a super effort to score a hundred off 36 balls.”

“I sort of wanted this record to stand until I retire because it has been a big pride for Pakistan and for me and whenever my name comes the record is mentioned. Now Anderson’s name will come but I am sure with the advent of Twenty20 cricket this record will surely be bettered in the future.”