I'll come straight out with it this time and declare Shahid Afridi to be my Player of the Week but the Pakistani all-rounder didn't have it all his own way. India's venerable batting stars Laxman and Dravid each reached three figures in their win against West Indies although MS Dhoni's 144 stole the show. Yadav also looked the part with the ball, although he will face sterner challenges than the currently weak Caribbean opposition.
In domestic competitions there were impressive feats from young batsmen. Riki Wessels, the England-qualified son of Aussie-South African opener Kepler was in action in Zimbabwe, scoring a career-best 197 and 89 not out for the Rhinos in Bulawayo. Abhishek Nayar may not be a spring chicken at 28, but he had a pretty fruitful week for Mumbai. First he took the Rajasthan attack for 243, followed by an unbeaten 191 against Karnataka. he looks a rarity in this day and age in that he has the game suited for first-class cricket while his T20 record is decidedly average. He was dropped after three ODI appearances in 2009 despite barely facing a ball but he is one of a long list of good left-handers vying for a Test place if and when the old-stagers take their bow.
In New Zealand, Martin Guptill made a big hundred while his 21 year-old team-mate Kane Williamson went even higher, slamming 284 not out and taking 3-43 for Northern Districts. Like Nayar, he is no T20 biff-bang merchant but he shows considerable promise in the longer formats, something his country really needs.
But from biff-bang I must return to 'Boom-Boom' - and Mr. Afridi, who deliberately eschews Test cricket for the one-dayers. I think it's a great shame because he is one of those cricketers who can seemingly do anything. Weirdly he opened the batting (unsuccessfully, I should add) in his debut Test as an 18 year-old against Australia, but took 5-52, including both Waugh brothers in the same over. Since then, he has played only 26 more Tests but has taken his ODI total to 329! The quick fifty and occasional wicket have become his speciality, accumulating almost 7000 runs and more than 300 wickets along the way.
Ironically, while fans flock to watch him flay bowling in T20 matches, his record with the bat is mediocre while it's his loping leg-spin which has been his greatest strength. In 98 twenty-over contests he has taken 120 wickets with an exceptional economy rate of just 6.30 an over. However, it is for this week's 50-over performances for Pakistan against Sri Lanka that he wins my award. In three games, he scored 29 (in 14 balls), 15 and 75, allied to 2-35, 2-42 and finally a match-winning 5-35. That's a darned impressive sequence in top-flight competition!
