It was murder at Modi Stadium Kanpur. The executioner was Pakistan’s Shahid Afridi and sufferers were Indian bowlers and the Indian fans. Never has such a brutality on a cricket patch been witnessed in India and against India. The one innings which can be ranked alongside Afridi’s today’s blitz is Ijaz Ahmed’s unforgettable butchering of Indian bowlers on the night of October 2, 1997 at Qaddafi Stadium, Lahore. Ijaz made a mockery of opposition clubbing every other Indian bowler for sixes and fours in his stunning unconquered knock of 139 off 84 balls.
But Afridi’s savage assault today, remains to be seen to be believed. There were no mishits, edges or playing and missing. Simply it was controlled stroke making against a good bowling attack. And all the strokes were played with a straight bat clearing the fence by quite a distance. Almost 92 percent of Afridi’s 102 runs came in boundaries. His monstrous hit off Zaheer Khan (his sixth six) towards midwicket made him the first man on the planet to blow 200 hits over the boundary in ODIs. The manner in which he maltreated the Indian bowlers, he is liable to be reported to the Human Rights Commission for violating the rights of Balaji, Zaheer, Kumble, Mongia and Harbhajan. There was one chance for India to come back into this match after his mind-boggling smashing and that infact was no chance. Such an innings will perhaps remain etched forever in the memories of those who have witnessed. Well done Afridi!
Players with 100 or more sixes in ODI’s [10]
Six hitters For Mt Inn 6s 6s/Inn
Shahid Afridi Pak 204 195 203 1.04
ST Jayasuriya SL 334 325 188 0.57
SC Ganguly Ind 271 262 168 0.64
CL Cairns NZ 204 184 147 0.79
SR Tendulkar Ind 347 338 144 0.43
Inzamam-ul-Haq Pak 341 317 133 0.42
IVA Richards WI 187 167 126 0.75
Wasim Akram Pak 356 280 121 0.43
BC Lara WI 251 244 110 0.45
PA de Silva SL 308 296 102 0.34
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