Former Pakistan captain Shahid Afridi’s autobiography 'Game Changer’ captures the journey of his exceptional rise, overnight and controversial fame, his weaknesses, strengths, team politics, tragedies, greatest moments on the field, his future ambitions – political or otherwise – and more importantly has some shocking revelations, which has altogether exposed various things on ground.
Told as a memoir, this is a modern, personalised history where his popular tale begins with the cricket world’s most famous batting debut – when a 19-year-old Afridi, in 1996, scored a 37-ball century, the fastest the world had ever witnessed, against then world champions Sri Lanka.
Coincidentally, the night before that historic match he had a dream where he was hitting the big shots against the same team. And to everyone’s surprise, Afridi made that debut century with Sachin Tendulkar’s bat.
This memoir thus, unravels many sides of Afridi for the reader and his fans. Divided into thirty eight chapters, it sets the record straight on many of the controversies surrounding his cricketing career. It talks about never-heard-before stories of Afridi’s professional and personal life.
To begin with, Afridi credits his uncle for introducing sports to his family and influencing him in the cricket world. His father wasn’t so interested in the sport, and was even angry when Shahid spoke about taking it up as a profession. He was frequently scolded and even beaten for his obsession with the game, or bunking classes.
Afridi reveals that he never enjoyed school, except for the cricket and could never hit the books or obsess about studying. He wasn’t ever interested in becoming a doctor, engineer or lawyer. He stole money from his father’s wallet a number of times only for getting cricket kit(s). And such was the obsession that he used to sleep with his kit on so he wouldn’t be late for a match the following morning. He slept with his socks on, even in summers, so that he didn’t waste time trying to find them in the dark when he awoke at the crack of dawn. Cricket was the fuel which kept him going.
In the book, Afridi calls:
- Javed Miandad the greatest batsman but equally a small man who had a proximity complex,
- Waqar Younis a below average captain and a mediocre coach,
- Ijaz Butt, a flawed chairman, Shoaib Malik, kaan ka kacha, who was prone to taking bad advice from bad people and who believed everything he hears,
- Aamer Sohail, a brave player but jealous and fame lover,
- Salman Butt, an educated criminal and a typical liar who insulted the team, the game and the country.
Afridi has come down hard upon Gautam Gambhir whom he calls ‘saryal’ (burnt up), attitudinal, someone with no personality and one behaves like he’s a cross between Don Bradman and James Bond.
About Shoaib Akhtar, Afridi writes that he was ferocious, furious and a terror for any batting line-up but at the same time was someone always in the middle of a reputation crisis. He recollected a time when the Pakistan pacer broke down the bathroom door of the Centurion cricket stadium’s lounge and showed his anger at Mohammad Asif over a simple joke.
In his book, Afridi also recounts how all the Pakistan cricket team’s seniors (except a few) felt insecure of him and his batting style, as if he was somewhat a threat to them or their fame. He goes on to say that he had joined the national team as a bowler but was never honed properly by the coaches and captains, who didn’t exploit his talent to the fullest.
He felt bitterly misused and constantly confused due to which he lost himself to double-minded muddle and kept tolerating the incorrect treatment from many other coaches only because he respected their position, not them.
Ball-Tampering, Fangirls & More: Afridi Shares Anecdotes
About his infamous ball-tampering incident, he brusquely admits that in cricket everybody tampers with the ball but what he did was bit different. He showed the world what he was doing, hardly trying to conceal anything. However, he also expresses how apologetic he is now for doing that.
Afridi has narrated some shocking, weird and humorous incidents from his life including when in 1995 his motorbike was robbed at gun point in broad day light in Karachi. Second was when a number of fangirls who travelled from villages outside Peshawar to Karachi in search of him, some dressed as self-styled brides, insisted Afridi marry them. Third, was when a 16-year-old boy (having a very versatile voice) masqueraded as a girl and fooled the cricketer for months on the phone after which an embarrassed Afridi found him holding a bouquet of roses at his door on Eid day.
Interestingly Afridi later deployed the boy for the same trick with his friends and surprisingly the boy even convinced one of his friends (a famous bowler whom Afridi let be anonymous) over the phone to marry him. Fourth was when a Melbourne girl relentlessly followed Afridi and insisted he accompany her. The book reveals that Afridi got plenty of attention (after his debut century) from all quarters, especially women, but he was only interested in helping his family.
‘Virat More Beautiful Than Sachin When Batting’
In the book ‘Game Changer’, Afridi calls Imran Khan his hero and inspiration, and Wasim Akram his mentor. Moin Khan, Saeed Anwar and Inzamam-ul-Haq are all also unforgettable for Afridi. Two more captains that he appreciated are Misbah-ul-Haq and Younis Khan, the latter he says is a hard-worker but not a talented or naturally gifted cricketer.
Sachin Tendulkar is a world class legend but Virat Kohli is more beautiful while batting on the field, he asserts. Moreover, his other favourites are AB de Villiers, Shane Warne, Virender Sehwag and Anil Kumble to name a few. The only few bowlers who have bothered him chronically and who have caused him discomfort and anxiety are Glenn McGrath, Courtney Walsh and Curtly Ambrose.
The fascinating part about the book is that throughout the length something novel, surprising or controversial is being disclosed.
From players to politicians, from coaches to umpires and from PCB to team management, Afridi had spared few and criticised many.
The only coach whom he speaks in admiration is Bob Wolmer. He writes, ‘coaches tried to change my game; they failed. Eventually, it was Bob Woolmer who got it right, who gave me a lot of confidence and told me to be myself.’ He calls umpire Darrel Hair a hateful racist who was caught red-handed stealing cash from a liquor store in Australia.
He reprimanded PCB by arguing that the cricket board doesn’t have any confidence, nor does have it a plan whereby a qualified man or woman could stand up to or debate or argue confidently with the highest levels of the ICC. “There aren’t enough professionals within the organisation. Instead, there are shortsighted bureaucrats who just want to save their own seats and skins.”
‘PM Modi Cut from a Different Cloth’
On politics, Afridi says India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi is cut from a different cloth and until he is around, there are no chances of peace with Pakistan which is contrary to what Pakistan PM Imran Khan said last month. Afridi proclaims that India is unequalled when it comes to love and respect for cricketers but its media plays dirty, exaggerates, lies and builds hype by quoting things out of context.
The only Pakistani politician who had disappointed Afridi is Asif Zardari, who the cricketer says was never interested in Pakistan’s victory, in the game of cricket or in improving sports for Pakistanis. Afridi doesn’t like army meddling into politics but gives room to his point by describing that once there is a vacuum created by the democrats the military steps in, which is natural. He satirises it by mentioning that even the great Inzamam-ul-Haq rumbled in to bowl a few overs in matches where the bowlers were not doing their job.
Afridi had received offers from all the three major political parties of Pakistan to join, one for PPP from Bilawal Bhutto, second for PML[N] from Nawaz Sharif and the third one for PTI from Imran Khan. Though Afridi is quite a serious fan of politics he makes it clear that he doesn’t see any right party that he can join at the moment. He even hints of forming his own party.
In the final section of his book Afridi suggests that Imran Khan must do more about Kashmir in its resolution process. “Kashmir belongs to the Kashmiris. Not to Indians. Not to Pakistanis. We have to save the Kashmiri people, and we must involve them in the peace process. Nobody in the Indian subcontinent has suffered or struggled more than Kashmiris.”
The book is a good read and every other page has some striking or blunt reflection which for sure will astonish many readers. It takes a lot for someone to admit his own fallacies and Afridi has done it by revealing some bold confessions. However, the worst part of the book is that it lacks sequence. Moreover, it had some grave statistical errors including when Afridi calls Muzaffarabad the most militarised region in the world. The best way to understand the context of the book is to read it in one go.
(Mohammad Ashraf Khwaja is writer and researcher based in Kashmir. His areas of interest include South Asian History, Identity Politics, Society, Cultural Studies and Religion. He can be reached at @MAshrafKhwaja.This is an opinion piece and the views expressed above are the author’s own.The Quint neither endorses nor is responsible for the same.)
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