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 is considered one of the players 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 the Afghanistan team as head coach during the 2015 World Cup - in which Shapoor scored the winning runs against Scotland - was out of words after hearing the news of Shapoor's demise.

"I am shocked," Moles told Cricbuzz on Tuesday. "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.

"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," said Moles.

"Shapoor and Hamid Hassan used to lead the bowling attack in those days, and as I say I'm devastated to hear the news that he's passed on, my thoughts are with everybody connected with the ACB and with his family. Inshallah you will all recover with time," he said, adding that the winning runs against Scotland in the World Cup 2015 will be etched in memory for the rest of his life.

Raees Ahmadzai, former Afghanistan cricketer and current member of the ACB's coaching panel, considered Shapoor as 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, he was very funny, a lovely person to speak to. He shared his thoughts as a friend, he shared his experiences with the youngsters," he 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, who is known for mentoring a lot of Afghan cricketers including Rashid Khan, had a decade-long international career where he picked 43 wickets in 44 ODIs and 37 wickets in 36 T20Is between 2009 and 2020.