Shaheen Afridi: Shaheen Shah Afridi can’t do any wrong. After bamboozling opponents in T20 Blast, the left-arm pacer picked up two wickets in the opening game of the ongoing Hundred competition. When quizzed by Dinesh Karthik and Stuart Broad during the post-match presentation, the Pakistani superstar said bowling longer spell in Test cricket helps him bowl well in the T20 and the Hundred.
“Good start for me in The Hundred. It is all about rhythm, for warmup, I just go two to three hours before starting the game. You feel fresh, and that is the secret of bowling Yorkers and swing the ball.” The left-arm pacer also revealed the seam position in bringing the ball into right-hand batters. “I just hold the ball like the left-hander holds, if the ball is not swinging too much, I keep more fingers out nothing to do more.”
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Shaheen Afridi: Shaheen Afridi elaborates on his change in bowling action
For the uninitiated, Shaheen was out of injury for over four months due to a knee injury. Even after playing in the T20 World Cup, the left-arm pacer aggravated the injury. However, the 24-year-old worked on his bowling action and tweaked a bit post-knee surgery. “I think after my knee injury I just worked on my run-up. The late swing I get is due to me going wide of the crease. The more I swing is because of my wrist flick.”
Afridi came into the Hundred tournament on the back of playing two-match Test series against Sri Lanka. Switching from a longer format to the shortest format is not easy, however, Afridi said,
“Test cricket is totally different. To spend more time on the ground and bowl longer spells, I think that is success to playing shorter formats.”
Playing for Welsh Fire in The Hundred, Afridi is looking in menacing form and is eager to produce more match-winning spells. After the tournament, the Pakistani superstar will have Asia Cup, due to start on August 30.
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