Abbas Afridi: Everything you need to know about PSL 8’s top wicket-taker

Multan Sultans’ speedster Abbas Afridi is currently the top wicket-taker in the ongoing Pakistan Super League (PSL) season eight after claiming 22 wickets in nine matches.

The right-armer has been a crucial part of Sultans’ campaign this year by picking up regular wickets during the death overs.

Afridi’s economy rate might be on the higher side, 10.02, but a strike-rate of 8.9 is a testament of his effectiveness during PSL 8.

Here is everything you need to know about Abbas Afridi.

Born

Afridi was born in 2001 in FATA (Khyber Pakhtunkhwa) and is currently 21-year-old.

Cricket runs in family

Afridi is the nephew of former Pakistan speedster Umar Gul, who played a key role in the Men in Green’s triumphant T20 World Cup campaign in 2009.

Domestic experience

Afridi has played three first-class, 14 List A and 21 T20 matches over the course of his brief career, which includes a total of 52 wickets.

PSL

Before joining Multan, Afridi also played for Karachi Kings in 2021. However, he only featured in four matches for the franchise. He was picked by Multan ahead of PSL 7 and was among the players retained before the ongoing season.

Hat-trick

He became the fifth bowler to claim a hat-trick in the PSL history on Saturday against Quetta Gladiators. Afridi’s wickets included Mohammad Nawaz, Umaid Asif and Umar Akmal.

Area of expertise

Afridi bowls a good slower ball, which comes in handy especially during the death over, which has troubled the batters on numerous occasions during the ongoing PSL season eight.

U19 World Cup

During the U19 World Cup in 2020 in South Africa, Afridi was the top wicket-taker for Pakistan in the tournament with nine scalps in five innings.

Pakistan call-up?

The upcoming T20I series against Afghanistan could be a good time to give some international exposure to Afridi, since the next T20 World Cup is more than a year away.c