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Shahid Afridi faces heat over Iftikhar snub in viral ‘Maxwell’ statement: 'He definitely has the capability'
Shahid Afridi was called out by fans over his recent post about Glenn Maxwell's record-breaking knock at the ODI World Cup.
It was maximum carnage from Glenn Maxwell when five-time champions Australia squared off against the Netherlands in match No.25 of the ICC World Cup 2023 on Wednesday. While veteran opener David Warner notched up a record- century, power-hitter Maxwell demolished the Dutch side by smashing the fastest century in the history of the ICC World Cup. As Maxwell's blistering knock earned him plaudits from the entire crickety fraternity, former Pakistan skipper Shahid Afridi issued a noteworthy statement while lauding the Australian superstar.
Taking to X (formerly known as Twitter), the former Pakistani all-rounder showered praise on Maxwell for playing a memorable knock at the grandest stage of them all - the ICC World Cup. Interestingly, Afridi also called out Pakistan star Iftikhar Ahmed, who is tasked to play a Maxwell-like role for Babar Azam and Co. at the World Cup in India. “What an innings by @GlenMaxwell today, its a showcase of top class power hitting, well deserved win for Australia! I expect Iftikhar Ahmad to play a similar role for our team, he definitely has the capability to do so and the pitches are curated for power hitting, we all need you to fire up now #CWC2023,” Afridi said.
Afridi was called out by several Pakistani fans for snubbing the Pakistani all-rounder during his stint as the interim chief selector of the Green Army. Afridi was named the interim chief selector of Pakistan last year. In his short stint, Afridi's three-member committee reviewed Pakistan's Test squad and the former cricketer had also opted to not name Ahmed in the white-ball roster for the New Zealand series.
Talking about the recently concluded encounter between Australia and the Netherlands, Maxwell took only 40 balls to smash the fastest century in the history of the ICC World Cup. Maxwell shattered Aiden Markram's record that the South African set in the ongoing edition of the ICC World Cup.
The stand-in skipper of the Proteas slammed a century in 49 balls against Sri Lanka at Delhi. Three weeks later, Maxwell upstaged Markram by breaking his record at the same venue on Wednesday. Maxwell also holds the record for the fastest century by an Australian in One Day Internationals (ODIs). Only AB de Villiers (31), Corey Anderson (36) and Shahid Afridi (37) have taken fewer balls than Maxwell for an ODI century.
