It was quite late into the rather breezy Sunday evening, when Arshad Iqbal shattered the stumps of Rajvardhan Hangargekar for the second last wicket of the monumental collapse of arch-rivals India in the Emerging Asia Cup 2023, coincidentally again in a Final. But then suddenly, the camera turned towards none other than Shaheen Shah Afridi, who as per his birth documents should have still been an emerging player but he decided to grow many years to become one of the finest men to be playing international cricket with the big boys already. He was here supporting the young guns, and hard to say, who is on the field and who is cheering the other buddy up. Sana Mir just like the iconic off breaks during her own playing days, threw an impromptu mic drop moment, “well, Shaheen & Iqbal can never be separated!”.
How fitting does it tune when 4 days earlier at Galle, basically a fort backdrop and fringed by the Indian Ocean on two sides, Shaheen bulldozed the first 3 pillars of Sri Lanka's batting and in the process achieved the first of hopefully many centuries; but in bowling to be precise. MS fans will clarify this point more as a cheeky little shoutout to his game-changing knock in PSL8 Finale. Anyway, back to Galle fort, the eagle is hungry and has a vision set for his next milestone i.e., his 100th Test wicket. And it was the same venue exactly a year ago, when he got hurt badly which kept him away for a full home test season which eventually had knock-on effects on his T20I campaign in Australia too.
But as the Poet of the East, Iqbal symbolizes his eagle(Shaheen), because of its courage, great strength and self-reliance:
جھپٹنا ، پلٹنا ، پلٹ کر جھپٹنا
Jhapatna, palatna, palat kar jhapatna
(To swoop, withdraw and swoop again)
لہو گرم رکھنے کا ہے اِک بہانہ
Lahuu garm rakhnay ka hai ik bahaana
(Is only a pretext to keep up the heat of the blood)
That injury, a spark, ignited a deeper thirst and hunger within the man from Landi Kotal. In the above verses, our dreamer of Pakistan has also described how a soaring eagle tends to withdraw and swoop again to grab his prey. So let’s quickly check out the Shaheen setting trap for rather a settling Kusal Mendis, wicket number101 after a brief spell of rain. Two successive inswingers camouflaged Kusal's feet and now his bat was lurking around to touch the curving ball. That’s the point why eagles wait the most when trying to hunt, they make themselves sit on perch, will then entice the prey to come in their reach as explained by a famous biologist, “The eagles - either soaring overhead or perched - constantly watch the bands of sheep, and if a lamb strays away from its mother, an eagle is zooming in,” Arthur said. “They swoop down and try to grab it before it can get back under its mother.” So here comes the tangent delivery to Mendis who could only nick it behind a diving Pakistan captain, Babar Azam. That followed the ever so adrenaline inducing scenes for any Pakistani cricket fan, Shaheen has his arms raised for his trademark pose and yes it’s his celebration. He's embossed his name on to the record books, he became the third highest wicket-taker in Pakistan's Test history and that too after only 26 matches, sitting behind only the legendary Waqar Younis and Fazal Mehmood. He also became the fourth fastest amongst active pacers to achieve that milestone.
How fitting does it tune when 4 days earlier at Galle, basically a fort backdrop and fringed by the Indian Ocean on two sides, Shaheen bulldozed the first 3 pillars of Sri Lanka's batting and in the process achieved the first of hopefully many centuries; but in bowling to be precise. MS fans will clarify this point more as a cheeky little shoutout to his game-changing knock in PSL8 Finale. Anyway, back to Galle fort, the eagle is hungry and has a vision set for his next milestone i.e., his 100th Test wicket. And it was the same venue exactly a year ago, when he got hurt badly which kept him away for a full home test season which eventually had knock-on effects on his T20I campaign in Australia too.
But as the Poet of the East, Iqbal symbolizes his eagle(Shaheen), because of its courage, great strength and self-reliance:
جھپٹنا ، پلٹنا ، پلٹ کر جھپٹنا
Jhapatna, palatna, palat kar jhapatna
(To swoop, withdraw and swoop again)
لہو گرم رکھنے کا ہے اِک بہانہ
Lahuu garm rakhnay ka hai ik bahaana
(Is only a pretext to keep up the heat of the blood)
That injury, a spark, ignited a deeper thirst and hunger within the man from Landi Kotal. In the above verses, our dreamer of Pakistan has also described how a soaring eagle tends to withdraw and swoop again to grab his prey. So let’s quickly check out the Shaheen setting trap for rather a settling Kusal Mendis, wicket number101 after a brief spell of rain. Two successive inswingers camouflaged Kusal's feet and now his bat was lurking around to touch the curving ball. That’s the point why eagles wait the most when trying to hunt, they make themselves sit on perch, will then entice the prey to come in their reach as explained by a famous biologist, “The eagles - either soaring overhead or perched - constantly watch the bands of sheep, and if a lamb strays away from its mother, an eagle is zooming in,” Arthur said. “They swoop down and try to grab it before it can get back under its mother.” So here comes the tangent delivery to Mendis who could only nick it behind a diving Pakistan captain, Babar Azam. That followed the ever so adrenaline inducing scenes for any Pakistani cricket fan, Shaheen has his arms raised for his trademark pose and yes it’s his celebration. He's embossed his name on to the record books, he became the third highest wicket-taker in Pakistan's Test history and that too after only 26 matches, sitting behind only the legendary Waqar Younis and Fazal Mehmood. He also became the fourth fastest amongst active pacers to achieve that milestone.
Eagle’s First Flight:
Let’s throw some flashbacks and witness the making of a soaring eagle.
Allama Iqbal, in Baang-e-Darra famously said this about the making of an eagle:
عقابی روح جب بیدار ہوتی ہے جوانوں میں
Uqaabi rooh jab baiydaar hoti hai jawaano main
(When an eagle’s spirits awaken in youthful hearts)
نظر آتی ہے ان کو اپنی منزل آسمانوں میں
Nazar aati ha un ko apni manzil aasmano main
(It sees its luminous goal beyond the starry heavens)
It were the deserts of Abu Dhabi inadvertently hosting both Pakistan and New Zaland. With a season to forget under his belt, not personally but with KQ earlier in the year, the whole KPK & Pakistan is already calling him the next big thing in Pakistan cricket as is the unreal urge to explore in Australia or Pakistan: “Find the 15-year-old who is the greatest fast bowler ever” Nevertheless, Iqbal & Shaheen correlation about desert is in that way as versed in his poem “Shaheen” in Zuboor-e-Ajam:
ہوائے بیاباں سے ہوتی ہے کاری
(Hawa-e-bayabaa'n se hoti hai kaari)
The wind of the desert is what gives
جواں مرد کی ضربِ غازیانہ
(Jawa'n mard ki zarbat-e-ghaaziaana)
The stroke of the brave youth fighting in battle its effect
The target up against Eagle is one of the most in-form batters around the world of that time (averaging around 50 for the past 8 months), the Kiwi vice skipper, Tom Latham. And as young eagles learn fledging from their adults, Shaheen has probably seen the clips of legendary Wasim Akram taking his first test scalp interestingly against the same nation, in their own backyard when he sent the left-handed opener John Wright back to the hut at Auckland Cricket Stadium. The only difference being Salim Malik caught him in slips back then. It’s the characteristics of Eagles that they develop their hunting traits. Tom Latham knew very little back in 2018 facing “Shaheen's First Over”- and yes even then it was a thing because, since his debut in February 2018, he had taken 8 wickets in 16 Innings and spared a thought for Latham too when nobody expected a young rookie(in a way) who is debuting on a placid pitch. How can you create an angle for a cut-in, how dare you craft the zip and are you for real extracting the movement off the pitch too? As he got stuck on his crease courtesy classic in dipper in the range of 142 KPH from Shaheen Afridi. The key was the wide wrist compared to now but still not orthodox angles and at the same time not clingy like Wahab Riaz or Lasith Malinga.
It was here the Eagle got ready to take the leap of faith and immediately started soaring with arms raised in the air. Power to extract that piece, srength to control the shiny new ball and a vision to craft that angle for pads, all attributes showcased in your first dismissal of the toughest format of cricket.
Iqbal, in a parallel universe might have written this couplet for the above generational talent:
محبت مجهے ان جوانوں سے هے
Mohabbat mujhe un jawaano se hai
ستاروں پہ جو ڈالتے ہیں کمند
Sitaron per jo daaltay hain kamand
(The youth to whom the stars are not out of bounds
Are the ones I love indeed)
On this note, ask Aaron Finch or Rohit Sharma, two of the star batters for their respective countries, how many sleepless nights they had after getting done by in dippers from Shaheen during the World T20I, 2022. But you know what the beauty is with the eagle, hear from Allama Iqbal first:
تو شاہیں ہے پرواز ہے کام تیرا
Tu Shaheen haim parwaz hai kaam tera
(You are an eagle, flight is your vocation)
ترے سامنے آسماں اور بھی ہیں
Tere saamne aasmaan aur bhi hain
(You have other skies stretching out before you)
It is exciting to see Shaheen Shah Afridi returning to his peak form, as he sets his sights on the upcoming Asia Cup 2023 and the ODI World Cup in India later this year. The sky of success is within his reach, and he's all geared up to soar high once again. Eagle is at its lethal best when it gets to face daunting tasks back to back. Yes, eagles don’t make nests ("Ke Shaheen nahi banaata aashiyaana") when they can make the sky their own.
On the departing note:
