Pakistani cricket star Shahid Afridi has been making the headlines regularly in recent times. Some because of his breathtaking performances while others because of his controversial media remarks. It is clear that the spotlight loves Shahid Afridi. Now he has made another one by being announced the winner of ESPNCricinfo Best ODI Bowling Award 2013.
Afridi won this award for his phenomenal performance against West Indies at Georgetown where he ended with bowling figures of 7 for 12. These figures are the second best bowling figures of all time and the best in Afridi’s career.
His performance held even more significance due to the fact that he was making a comeback after being dropped out of the side for underperforming. Before this match Afridi had gone wicket less in his last six ODIs so he was under pressure to perform well to gain his position back in the team, and my did he deliver!
Afridi won the award by beating notable bowlers including Saeed Ajmal, Dale Steyn, Lonwabo Tsotsobe, Nuwan Kulasekara, Mitchell Johnson and Rubel Hossain. The ESPN Cricket Awards are decided by the voting of an independent jury comprising former cricketers, commentators and ESPNCricinfo’s senior writers. Shikhar Dhawan, Mitchell Johnson, and Rohit Sharma won the awards in the other categories.