DUBAI: All-rounder ‘Boom Boom’ Shahid Khan Afridi still appears to be supremely fit and at his peak, despite being just a few days shy of his 38th birthday. But, after a stunning catch for Karachi Kings in the second match of Pakistan Super League 2018 against Quetta Gladiators on Friday, the former Pakistan captain-who turns 38 years old on March 1-admitted that he may have finally ‘come of age’. Karachi successfully defended their target of 150, restricting Quetta to 130-9 to claim a 19-run victory in their season opener. Afridi’s stunner of a catch at the boundary to remove Umar Amin for 31 not only stunned the audience but played an important part in the team’s confident victory in the season opener. Speaking after the match, Afridi said that he now often “runs away from fielding at this age”. He said that a cricketer cannot field well unless he enjoys it too. But at his age, he said, he mostly tries to avoid fielding. “Today, I had wanted to field on the boundary myself, hoping for a catch to come my way,” said Afridi. He the catch helped the team come back into the match and Karachi were eventually able to beat Quetta by 19 runs in their season opener. He added that in the T20 format, it was important that a player was always ready for fielding. Published in Daily Times, February 24th 2018.