Islamabad
\nPakistan\u2019s star cricketer Shaheen Shah Afridi has warned, on a lighter note, his teammate and fellow pacer Haris Rauf against bowling to him ahead of his Big Bash League (BBL) 15 debut.
\nIn a recent interview, Afridi \u2014 who will represent Brisbane Heat in the upcoming tournament \u2014cautioned Rauf not to bowl against him during the BBL.
\n\u201cI hope Haris Rauf doesn\u2019t dare to bowl against me [in BBL]. If he does, I will hit him for a lot of sixes,\u201d Afridi said with a grin.
\nPreviously, during his interaction after signing for the Brisbane Heat following the draft, the 25-year-old was asked which batter\u2019s wicket he would value the most among Babar Azam, Steve Smith, and David Warner.
\nAfridi chose not to single out anyone, emphasising the importance of all three.
\n\u201cFor me, it\u2019s all three,\u201d Shaheen said with a smile. \u201cI wouldn\u2019t pick just one because all of them are crucial wickets. They\u2019re key players for their teams, and I\u2019d love to dismiss each of them.\u201d
\nThe former T20I captain also expressed excitement about the growing number of Pakistani players participating in BBL 15, including Babar Azam, Mohammad Rizwan, and Shadab Khan.
\n\u201cYeah, this year, six or seven Pakistani players are taking part in the Big Bash, so I\u2019m really looking forward to playing against them,\u201d he said.
\n\u201cWe just played together in the PSL, and these guys are big names who have been performing for Pakistan for many years. It\u2019s a great challenge, and I think the crowd, especially the Pakistani fans, will enjoy it whenever we face Babar, Rizwan, and others. Hopefully, we can put on a good show in front of a big crowd,\u201d he added.
\nThe two-time PSL-winning captain also shared his ambition to lift a trophy with Brisbane Heat, stressing the importance of team culture and enjoying the game.
\n\u201cThat will be amazing \u2014 to win one more trophy. It would make my first season even more special. In the PSL, we won three trophies, and it\u2019s all about the players and how the management gives you that cushion to enjoy your cricket,\u201d he said.
\n\u201cThat\u2019s the main thing. I\u2019m really hopeful \u2014 Brisbane Heat are a very good side, and I\u2019m looking forward to winning another trophy with them,\u201d he concluded.
\nIt is pertinent to mention that Afridi was selected as the first overall pick in the BBL Season 15 Draft, held on June 19, with Brisbane Heat securing his services.
\nSix out of the eight franchises showed interest in signing national team players, with wicketkeeper-batter Mohammad Rizwan chosen as the third platinum pick, and England\u2019s Luke Wood selected second.
\nThis will mark Shaheen Afridi\u2019s maiden appearance in the BBL, although he has previously featured in top-tier leagues such as the Bangladesh Premier League (BPL), International League T20 (ILT20), and The Hundred.
\nFormer Pakistan T20I captain Mohammad Rizwan has been signed by the Melbourne Renegades, while right-arm pacer Haris Rauf has been retained by the Melbourne Stars.
\nFormer Pakistan U19 all-rounder Hassan Khan is also making a return to the Melbourne Renegades.
\nLeg-spinner and Pakistan\u2019s current T20I vice-captain Shadab Khan has been signed by Sydney Thunder. Star batter Babar Azam was pre-signed by the Sydney Sixers ahead of the official draft and is set to make his BBL debut.
\nAdditionally, right-arm pacer Hasan Ali has been picked up by the Adelaide Strikers.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Islamabad Pakistan\u2019s star cricketer Shaheen Shah Afridi has warned, on a lighter note, his teammate and fellow pacer Haris Rauf against bowling to him ahead of his Big Bash League (BBL) 15 debut. In a recent interview, Afridi \u2014 who will represent Brisbane Heat in the upcoming tournament \u2014cautioned Rauf not to bowl against him …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":83006,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-83017","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/nabanews.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/83017","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/nabanews.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/nabanews.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nabanews.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nabanews.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=83017"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/nabanews.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/83017\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":83029,"href":"https:\/\/nabanews.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/83017\/revisions\/83029"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nabanews.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/83006"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/nabanews.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=83017"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nabanews.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=83017"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nabanews.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=83017"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}