T20 World Cup: Matthew Hayden has lavished praise on left-arm seamer Shaheen Afridi as Pakistan prepares for the T20 World Cup semi-final clash against Australia. Afridi has been one of the standout performers of the tournament and hasn’t looked back since his opening game spell against arch-rivals India. During that game the 21-year-old picked up the wickets of Rohit Sharma, KL Rahul before dismissing Virat Kohli in the back end of the innings.
T20 World Cup: Matthew Hayden can’t get over Shaheen Afridi’s delivery to dismiss KL Rahul, says “It is one of the best balls I’ve seen”
Matthew Hayden, who joined the Pakistan team as the batting consultant ahead of the T20 World Cup, is in awe of Shaheen Afridi’s skills and the team prepares to face off against Australia in the T20 World Cup semi-final. Speaking in a virtual pre-match press conference, Hayden said, “Quality pace is most certainly part of Shaheen Shah Afridi’s arsenal and the white-ball does not swing for a long time in T20 cricket, in particular, it seems to be a number of balls, not a number of overs. Those number of balls can be destructive as we saw in his delivery against KL Rahul, one of the best balls I have seen ever apart from last two-three months observing cricket you know in this country.”
That opening spell of Shaheen Afridi.first half an hour broke India mentally and later they never recovered from that phase
— Syed Amjad Mahmood Falki (@AmjadFalki) November 7, 2021
He added, “He has got that ability like every good strike bowler to be able to commit to a wonderful pace which means his preparation, recovery, and just the ability, in general, to be delivering fast deliveries day in and day out. Vernon Philander has also done well in preparing him for that. It has meant that he remains consistent in international cricket.”
Shaheen Afridi > Whole Indian Team https://t.co/PVU7LdMcgz pic.twitter.com/yJdjo6E1eH
— Hayat 5/5 (@pakistanikiz) November 5, 2021
T20 World Cup: Matthew Hayden can’t get over Shaheen Afridi’s delivery to dismiss KL Rahul, says “It is one of the best balls I’ve seen”
Shaheen Afridi won the player of the match award against India after his opening spell had damaged India’s hopes of putting on a huge score. He bowled an in-swing yorker to trap Rohit Sharma in front for a duck, before beating KL Rahul’s defences in a similar fashion.
On the back of Afridi’s form with the ball, along with Haris Rauf, Pakistan won all five matches and the Babar Azam-led side topped Group 2. Pakistan even managed to get better of arch-rivals India and it was the first time that the Green Shirts defeated the Men in Blue in World Cup.
T20 World Cup: Matthew Hayden can’t get over Shaheen Afridi’s delivery to dismiss KL Rahul, says “It is one of the best balls I’ve seen”
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