Daily Times

There are cricketers who play for their teams and retire. There are players who perform and hang their boots. Then there is Shahid Afridi – a cricketer who made a world record on his One Day International debut and later created his own following.

He was from a different league altogether. His experiences on and off the field are penned beautifully in Game Changer, Shahid Afridi’s autobiography co-written by journalist Wajahat S Khan.

Wasim Akram, former captain of the Pakistan Cricket Team and Afridi’s colleague in a number of matches, has written a heart-warming Foreword.

“Like all great discoveries, it started with a need” is how Wasim Akram begins. He further writes, “We are in a tri-series in Kenya in 1996. Mushtaq Ahmed, our dependable World Cup champion leg spinner, was injured. So here we were, stuck in Africa, in dire need of a leggie, and in comes this kid, kind of chubby but straight-edged and quiet. None of us had heard of him before.” Indeed, no one knew who this kid was then, however, his batting prowess, his agility on the field and his calculated deliveries as a bowler made his earn the moniker, Boom Boom. Furthermore, Wasim Akram narrates how Afridi became a cricketer par excellence and how he enjoyed leading a team with Afridi a part of it.

Wajahat S Khan writes the Preface of Game Changer aptly describing who Shahid Afridi was. Wajahat writes, “The Butcher. The Beast. The Boy Wonder. The Boom Boom. Our game, his way. That’s what he played.”

Those who know even an iota about cricket are aware of how erratic Afridi was on the field. He would lose his wicket at crucial moments and often without scoring in double figures. Wasim Akram states this quality of Afridi beautifully by writing, “But as captain, nobody kept me on the edge more than Afridi did. One couldn’t even go to the loo when he was playing in the middle. That’s because he could change any game, anytime.”

Game Changer is, in fact, Shahid Afridi’s narration about his life and career. The book narrates a number of cricketing moments and off-the-field interactions he had, penned and recorded for the first time. Game Changer has 38 chapters with each exploring a different facet to Afridi’s career.

“I like taking things one ball at a time,” says Afridi in one of the chapters which show his focused approach in life. Despite his unpredictable nature on the field, the book reveals how Afridi lived through a plethora of challenges as a child, during his teens, and as an established cricketer. Game Changer presents to readers Shahid Afridi’s dream to become the best. “My cricket fever was intense in those days,” writes Afridi in the book. “About three or four nights every week, before I slept, prior to any game or even at practice sessions, I dreamt with my eyes open. I visualized entire matches, all in my head – I’m walking into a stadium, the crowd is cheering. I’m slamming sixes…I dreamt that I was the new Imran Khan.” Afridi, with much fascination, also writes about how it is so different to play cricket with a tape ball – the tennis ball wrapped around by an electric tape – a tradition followed by every street cricketer in Pakistan.

Game Changer, interestingly, shows us the Shahid Afridi that was inside the green uniform. There are unconcealed truth and revelations from Afridi that will make you read them twice. The book comprises facts known to the world and those only Afridi knew, as he spills the beans for the first time. Afridi talks about Shoaib Malik and the reasons why he was unfit for captaincy. He ponders upon the dressing room politics and sheds light on Javed Miandad, Waqar Younis and Aamer Sohail to reveal certain aspects of their decisions and intentions that were not in line with the norm.

What Wajahat S Khan and Shahid Afridi have done is present Afridi’s career as a story with each chapter exploring a specific part of Afridi’s life. Known for his in-depth reporting, Wajahat S Khan has used his journalistic acumen while Shahid Afridi has used his experience and first-hand accounts, to blend them into a narrative that is mesmerizing, truthful and presents a narrative worth reading. The book is a page turner but filled with facts and information cricket lovers would cherish and Afridi’s fans would adorn.

Game Changer is in fact, a story of a player’s rise to fame, aspiring to become part of the squad, his trouble accepting authority’s orders, leading the squad and doing things the way he wanted. There is self-accountability and emphasizing on the shortcomings Afridi faced. Then there are the moments of glory that made Afridi who he is today. The book connects Afridi’s childhood dream of playing cricket to his teenage years of aspiring to make it into the national team before finally exploring his life as an international cricketer.

This is the story of a team captain and an all-rounder who at many occasions stood with his signature “X”-like stand after capturing a wicket or leading his team to a victory. Game Changer is not just a book or an autobiography; it is the life of one of the most controversial players in modern cricket explained with detail. The book talks about match-fixing and spot-fixing and Afridi’s relations with his teammates, coaches and his performances in tests, ODIs, World Cups that were at times below average, at times above-average and then, at times were simply exceptional. “The crucial thing about Afridi is that everything he does and doesn’t do works,” said Wasim Akram in the foreword.

The writer is an independent researcher, author and columnist. He can be reached at omariftikhar@hotmail.com