'I won't take his name' - Waqar Younis recalls an unusual old incident involving Shahid Afridi and Indian minister

Pace legend Waqar Younis has heaped praise on veterean all-rounder Shahid Afridi's physical strength during his early cricketing days and has explained that his handshakes used to be very hard whenever he exchanged pleasantries. 

Apart from citing his own example of being at the receiving end, Younis also talked about an unnamed Indian minister who was at the receiving end of Afridi's handshake during Pakistan's visit to India supposedly in the mid 90s. 

Shahid Afridi was only 15 or 16 and was very strong at that age: Waqar Younis

"When Shahid Afridi first arrived. He was only 15 or 16 and very strong at that age. The first time I shook hands with him, I almost ended up sweating, he squeezed it so hard. That's probably one of the reasons why he could hit those huge sixes," said Waqar while speaking on A Sports.

"I still remember, We were on an India tour. I know the name of the Indian minister but I won't take his name. He came to see us and welcomed us. We were all sitting together. He came and we stood up. He met everyone, and greeted us. Afridi was a junior, he was standing in the back. We all shook hands gently as he was an elderly minister. When Afridi's turn came, he shook the hands so hard," he added.

Shahid Afridi represented Pakistan for 20 long years between 1996 to 2016 and during those two decades, he made so many individual records with his all-round excellence on the field. He led Pakistan to the semifinals of the 2011 World Cup and finished as the joint-highest wicket-taker of that tournament along with Zaheer Khan.

The former skipper was adjudged the Player of the Tournament in the 2007 T20 World Cup and bagged the Man of the Match awards in the semis and the final of the T20 World Cup 2009 where the Men in Green went on to win the competition for the very first time beating Sri Lanka in the summit clash at Lord's.