KARACHI: It has been around a year that Shahid Afridi played his last international match for Pakistan, but he still remains the superstar for a huge group of cricket fans in Pakistan.
The all-rounder, known among his fans as ‘Boom Boom,’ addressed countless press conferences, responded to hundreds of thousands of questions from media throughout his career, but this time he chose to answer his fans directly, live.
Afridi took to Facebook and Twitter for a live-video session to answer fans’ questions, with hashtag #AskAfridi to help the former captain filter out the questions meant for the sessions.
Afridi was asked questions about everything, from his personal life to cricketing career, from his bitter memories to memorable moments and from his future plans to politics.
The all-rounder replied to every question in his traditional style, which he is always known for.
Replying to a question, Afridi said it was “too late†now to play a farewell match.
Looking back at his career, he said that he regretted the ball biting incident of 2010 and that it should not have happened. The former captain said that winning the World T20 in 2009 was the best moment of his career.
To a question, he also praised India captain Virat Kohli for his outstanding performances and aggressive style of playing the game.
A fan asked if Afridi would ever join politics in future, to which the cricketer said he was not made for politics and would be thrown out of any party quickly. He urged Pakistani politicians to keep individual differences aside and unite in favour of the country.
His live video session received over 200,000 views on Facebook, with over 30,000 questions sent his way, but – understandably – it was not possible for him to answer all the questions.
Afridi said that it was always good to stay connected with his fans.
“I liked the idea to answer fans directly, it made me aware of what fans want to know about me,†Afridi told the media after the live session.
“Whatever I have achieved in cricket, it is because of the support of my fans,†he added.
Shahid Afridi isn’t the first player to use social media for direct interaction with his fans. Former captain Wasim Akram has done so in the past; all-rounder Shoaib Malik has also taken fans’ questions live on social media.
The star all-rounder answered a lot more; here is the complete interview of him:
