‘Absolute giant of a character’ - Andy Moles leads tributes to Shapoor Zadran

Former Afghanistan head coach Andy Moles has led cricket’s tributes to Shapoor Zadran, calling the late left-arm pacer an absolute giant of a character whose decade-long career helped shape Afghanistan’s identity as a cricketing nation.

Shapoor, one of the most recognisable faces of Afghanistan’s cricketing rise, passed away on Tuesday after battling a prolonged illness. The left-armer claimed 43 wickets in 44 ODIs and 37 wickets in 36 T20Is between 2009 and 2020.

“I am shocked. I’m so sad with the passing of Shapoor, an absolute giant of a character in ACB and the cricket team was fortunate enough to be associated with him,” Moles told Cricbuzz.

The former head coach, who guided Afghanistan during the 2015 ICC Cricket World Cup in which Shapoor scored the winning runs against Scotland, remembered him as a player who led from the front in every aspect of the game.

“He really led from the front. Whether it would be training, whether it would be preparation before games, and actually in the games themselves, he would always give 100 per cent in every opportunity. All the youngsters I’m sure will remember as I do and a lot of people (do), him running in a long way - sometimes a little bit too far. He used a long run-up with his hair flowing, thundering in, trying to bowl as quick as he could, left-arm rockets,” he added.

Shapoor Zadran was Afghanistan’s first pace icon: Raees Ahmadzai

Raees Ahmadzai, former Afghanistan cricketer and current member of the ACB’s coaching panel, described Shapoor as the flag-bearer of the country’s pace revolution.

“Shapoor was the first pace bowling star of Afghanistan and he inspired a generation of pacers who followed him for his long run-up and hair style,” Ahmadzai said.

“With his heroics in the World Cup game against Scotland he helped us earn the belief that we have the ability to earn success in global events,” he added.

Shapoor had been receiving treatment in New Delhi since January for Stage 4 Hemophagocytic Lymphohistiocytosis (HLH), a rare immune disorder. Born on July 8, 1987, in Logar Province, he passed away one day before his 39th birthday.