Legendary Pakistani cricketer Shahid Afridi is not at all happy with Shaheen Afridi’s bowling performance against Australia’s Matthew Wade in the semi-final match. Pakistan’s campaign in the ongoing T20 World Cup 2021 came to an end with a heartbreaking note. The Babar Azam-led side did extremely well throughout the tournament as they remained unbeaten till they were knocked out by Australia in the semi-final clash.
Riding on Matthew Wade’s heroics, Australia defeated Pakistan by 5 wickets and with an over to spare. The semi-final game looked in favor of the Pakistan cricket team. Shaheen Afridi was brought in the penultimate over to restrict Australians from chasing the target. He almost did the work he was brought for in the penultimate over, but paceman Hasan Ali gave Matthew Wade a lifeline by dropping him on the boundary in the 19th over and the rest is history.
After Wade was dropped by Hasan Ali, 18 runs were required from 9 balls and Matthew Wade went bonkers with the bat. He smashed three back-to-back sixes to book the return flights of the Pakistan side.
Shahid Afridi recently opened up about the game and said that despite Hasan Ali’s dropped catch, Shaheen could have saved the game. Shahid reckoned that with the pace that Shaheen has, he should have looked for the blockhole outside the off-stump, instead of delivering two-slot balls and a full toss. He said:
“I am not happy with Shaheen in one area. Okay so Hasan Ali dropped a catch but that does not mean you will bowl badly and get hit for three successive sixes,” Shahid Afridi told Samaa TV channel.
He added:
“Shaheen has so much pace and he should have used it sensibly. Even if the catch was dropped. He should have used his head and tried to bowl outside off stump fast Yorkers with his pace. He is not that sort of bowler to be hit like that.”
Furthermore, Shahid Afridi heaped praises on the 21-year-old cricketer for his incredible bowling performances throughout the tournament. He also compared him to the likes of Mohammad Amir and Wasim Akram.
“I would say he was brilliant in the tournament and I have only seen either Wasim bhai (Akram) or perhaps Muhammad Amir bowl like this with the new ball. He is giving good performances. I hope he learns from this cricket experience and prepares himself for the future,”
Meanwhile, the final showdown of the T20 World Cup is all set to take place on November 14th between New Zealand and Australia in Dubai, with both sides chasing their maiden World Cup title.
