The man whose back Indians would like to see

<div class="section0"><div class="Normal"><span style="" font-size:="">MUMBAI: The one player every fielding side in the world wants to see the back of is Aussie blaster Adam Gilchrist. Coming a close second are Virender Sehwag and Shahid Afridi. For India, in the upcoming One-day series, it will be Afridi and no one else. Especially as his reputation is no longer founded on what he might do, but on what he does.</span><br /><br /><span style="" font-size:="">Afridi can make a captain dance in glee as well as cry in dismay in a matter of a few balls. No player in contemporary cricket has been as consistently as enigmatic as him. He is a selector''s nightmare. But on the current tour Afridi has proved a little more consistent by his standards scoring more than his average of 24 in Test cricket. His ODI strike rate of 105-plus from 198 games and 4356 runs is ominous for India''s bowlers. Afridi has also 161 wickets to his credit. </span><br /><br /><span style="" font-size:="">In 1996-97, a 16-year-old Afridi replaced the injured leg-spinner Mushtaq Ahmed. He blasted 102 off 40 deliveries against Sri Lanka, equalling the most sixes in an innings (11). Sanath Jayasuriya, went for 94 in his ten overs in that game. Ironically, Afridi and Jayasuriya share share the record of most sixes hit. In the 1997 Sahara Cup in Toronto Pakistan coach Javed Miandad would spend hours talking sense into Afridi. He would agree to conform only to deviate from the script. </span><br /><br /><span style="" font-size:="">It''s been the same story all through his career which has meant Afridi not realising his potential. When Afridi mercilessly pounded the Holland attack for 55 runs in 18 deliveries in the ICC Champions Trophy, it was called ''blink-and-you''ll-miss-it'' innings. His knocks are termed as ''dismantling acts of the highest order''. Take the unbeaten century against New Zealand in Sharjah in 2002. There was a reckless air of desperation while he hit 8 sixes in his 108. Afridi took Leicestershire to the 2001 C&G Trophy final against Somerset but in the crunch game he was out making 20 off ten balls leaving his side rudderless. As for his bowling, Afridi can get through his ten overs quicker than any one else. Variety is the spice of his ''alleged'' legspinners. </span><br /><br /><span style="" font-size:="">Pakistani great Intikhab Alam told TOI he would bowl yorkers which fetched him maximum wickets in Scottish league cricket. Afridi also looks for that sort of length. His action is well guised when he lets go with the faster one. And he does not mind bowling seam-up at times. One is sure the Pakistani captain would be counting on Afridi''s ten overs in every ODI. Both Afridi and Gilchrist can set - or alter - the tone of a match with speed of scoring, both are free improvisers and crowd-pullers. Now that he has does his bit in the recent Test series, Afridi can bridge the divide from what one commentator called ''flawed genius to bona-fide international star''. As a fan remarked a website, "He is a sher, the father of Irfan Pathan, the real Pathan." </span></div> </div>