Shapoor Zadran

Don't make Shapoor Zadran angry. You won't like him when he's angry. Well over six feet tall, with flowing jet black hair and a piercing gaze, Shapoor's run-up begins most of the way to the boundary and he's built a name for himself with pace, bounce and aggression as a left-arm seamer. As an out-and-out fast bowler there is, of course, always a hostile element to his bowling and as Shapoor explains it: "I am angry every time I bowl. A bowler has to be angry, so that his reaction can carry over to the batsmen, who get unsettled and end up making a mistake."

Shapoor was born in the Logar Province, Afghanistan, but like many in his generation he escaped to Peshawar, Pakistan when war enveloped the region. There, he developed his game at the Arbab Niaz Stadium and Gymthana, and started playing hard-ball cricket in 2001. He initially hoped to play for Pakistan, naming Shoaib Akhtar as his fast-bowling idol, but when Iqbal Sikander, who played a handful of ODIs for Pakistan, started coaching in Afghanistan, Shapoor moved back there.

Family support for his cricketing ambitions was initially lacking, and he went to his first Afghanistan trial in secret. They've since been won over, and playing at the World T20, as well as a stint in the Bangladesh Premier League, have made Shapoor's one of the most recognizable faces in Afghanistan cricket.
Liam Brickhill