ISLAMABAD: Former Australian all-rounder Shane Watson believes former Pakistan skipper Shahid Afridi is the “perfect Twenty20 bowler” and has ranked “Boom Boom” on number two in his list of the top five limited overs bowlers of all time.
The 39-year-old said Afridi was number two on his list due to his ability to take wickets with a very impressive economy rate. “Number two in my top-five T20 bowlers of all-time is Shahid ‘Boom Boom’ Afridi.
“I am just talking about his bowling right now because obviously he is an incredibly dynamic batsman and everyone knows that. But from a bowling perspective, he is the perfect T20 bowler. He is a wicket-taker but also he
doesn’t go for many runs and that is a bowler you want in your team.”
Afridi, in his 317 domestic games, took 339 wickets at an incredible 6.70 runs per over “which is just phenomenal”, said Watson in a YouTube video for T20 Stars as quoted by cricketpakistan.com.pk.
“He has done that on so many wickets at such a low rate [which] is just phenomenal and that is what you are looking for. That is what you dream of in a T20 bowler. In his 99 T20s he has taken 98 wickets at a phenomenal economy rate of 6.64,” he said.
“Against the best batsmen in the world, he is taking crucial wickets in the middle overs which is a really important time in a T20 game, when you are able to get into the middle and the lower order. He takes crucial wickets because he is an attacking bowler but also because he is so skilful.
Apart from Afridi, Watson’s list of top T20 bowlers was topped by Sri Lanka’s Lasith Malinga, India’s Jasprit Bumrah at number three while Windies duo of Dwayne Bravo and Sunil Narine were slotted in at the fourth and fifth spot, respectively.
