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Afridi refuses to part with lucky bat

Karachi: Shahid Afridi on Friday revealed resisting umpteen temptations to part with a lucky bat, which actually belonged to Sachin Tendulkar and reached the Pakistani all-rounder through Waqar Younis.

The bat with which Afridi hit the fastest hundred in ODI — from 37 balls against Sri Lanka in October 2006 — was actually gifted by Tendulkar to former Pakistan captain Waqar Younis, who in turn gave it to Afridi with the wish “it could prove lucky as it belonged to a great player.”

Afridi said he had got several offers to auction the bat but resisted them all as it carried a lot of sentimental value.

“Waqar gave me the bat in Nairobi where I made my debut for Pakistan. He told me Tendulkar had given him the bat and asked him to make similar model bats from Sialkot,” Afridi said.

“Waqar told me the bat belonged to a great player and it could prove lucky for me so I should use it,” he said.

“That record still stands today and makes me proud. I also got other good scores with this particular bat so it is very valuable for me and I have no intention to auction it off to anyone,” he added. — PTI

Corrections and Clarifications:

Shahid Afridi scored the fastest ODI hundred in 1996 at Nairobi. A PTI report "Afridi refuses to part with lucky bat" ("Sport", May 2, 2009) said that he hit the fastest hundred in ODI, in October 2006.

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