'Absolute giant of a character' – Andy Moles mourns Shapoor Zadran's demise

The cricket world plunged into grief as former Afghanistan fast bowler Shapoor Zadran passed away on Tuesday (July 7) at the age of 38 after a prolonged illness.

Social media was flooded with tributes for Shapoor, who laid the foundation for Afghanistan cricket's growth. The 6-foot 2-inch tall left-arm pacer was one of the most recognisable faces of Afghanistan's cricket during their rise in the 2000s and 2010s.

Andy Moles, who guided Afghanistan as head coach during the 2015 World Cup – in which Shapoor scored the winning runs against Scotland – was shocked.

"I am shocked," Moles told Cricbuzz. "I'm so sad with the passing of Shapoor, an absolute giant of a character in ACB and the cricket team."

"He really led from the front. Whether it would be training, preparation before games, or in the games themselves, he would always give 100 per cent. All the youngsters will remember him running in a long way with his hair flowing, thundering in, trying to bowl as quick as he could, left-arm rockets," said Moles.

"Shapoor and Hamid Hassan used to lead the bowling attack in those days. I'm devastated to hear the news, my thoughts are with the ACB and his family. Inshallah you will all recover with time."

Raees Ahmadzai, former Afghanistan cricketer and current ACB coaching panel member, considered Shapoor the flag-bearer of Afghanistan'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.

"He was a guy that served Afghanistan, he was the best of friends, very funny, a lovely person to speak to. He shared his thoughts as a friend, he shared his experiences with the youngsters. With his heroics in the World Cup game against Scotland he helped us earn the belief that we can succeed in global events."

Shapoor, who mentored many Afghan cricketers including Rashid Khan, had a decade-long international career with 43 wickets in 44 ODIs and 37 wickets in 36 T20Is between 2009 and 2020.