When Shahid Afridi Became The Lion Tamer

So what kind of house pets do you keep? Cats? Dogs? Guinea pigs? You are no ‘match’ for the Pakistani cricket legend Shahid Afridi! He is a lion tamer or, it would appear so.

Shahid Afridi, who has a million Twitter followers, recently posted a picture of his daughter, imitating her father’s famous wicket-taking celebratory pose. The big-hitting all-rounder retired from international cricket in 2017, although he did captain a Rest of the World XI match in May. Afridi still plays domestic T20 matches and was famous for his celebration after taking a wicket, the pose that his daughter was copying. While the daughter looks absolutely adorable, Twitterattis could not help seeing a chained lion in the background!

The lion was allegedly being fed a deer or the likes of it. But, with one single ‘house-pet’, it seems Afridi has snatched the title of ‘Lion of Lahore’ from Imran Khan!

While animal rights activists created an up’roar’, over keeping a majestic jungle animal chained in his house and it’s inhumane condition, many Twitterattis were mighty impressed! Some were also concerned about the deer or whichever animal was being fed to the lion!

Now there are the obvious safety concerns regarding keeping the king of animals, tied to a measly chain and within feet of his young daughter, family, and the neighborhood. But it leads to a more pertinent question – which pet store provides the big cat as a house pet? Where do you get it in the first place? There have to be animal trafficking laws and safety regulations that need to be checked for keeping a wild animal in the premises like so. But the simple fact is that it’s one of the most deadly predators on earth, near a populated area. The people around the area might just wake up one day, to the beast on the streets after the flimsy chains are broken.

Also, why have a lion in your house in the first place? What sort of riches or status symbol, could it possibly imply that Shahid Afridi became the lion tamer? We cannot even fathom the amount of money it would have taken to procure the mighty beast, let alone its regular upkeep. If you think having a cat as a pet is cumbersome, think about what it takes for the lion’s health and diet!!

As for us, we would hate to be the annoying next door neighbor or a belligerent house guest at the Afridi household!

Just a question Mr. Afridi – Do you have a ‘Beware of the Lion’ sign on the main gate?  Please put that up ASAP! You know, safety first!