Pakistan batting consultant Matthew Hayden has rated Shaheen Shah Afridi’s delivery that dismissed India’s opening batter, KL Rahul, earlier in the ICC T20 World Cup as one of the best he has ever seen.
“Pace is most certainly an essential part of Shaheen’s arsenal,” Hayden was quoted saying by ANI. “The ball does not swing for long in the T20 cricket and it is a matter of a few balls, not overs. Those balls can be destructive [by Shaheen] as we saw in his delivery that dismissed KL Rahul, one of the best I have ever seen.”
Shaheen had bowled an outstanding good-length delivery that pitched at about off-stump and sharply came in, which left the right-handed batter absolutely bamboozled.
The legendary Australian batter maintained that the left-arm pacer has great ability to bowl fast day in and day out, adding that the bowling consultant Vernon Philander has prepared the young quickie well for it.
However, the 50-year-old, who has been a part of Australian world cup-winning squads, is sceptical of Shaheen’s workload as he has been playing for Pakistan in all three formats of the game, mentioning that it will be a challenge for the pacer to maintain his fitness.
Talking about the all-important semi-final between Pakistan and Australia, he said that the Men-in-Green will face a unit that is habitual of delivering trophies and winning world cups for their country.
“ICC Men’s T20 World Cup is one major tournament which Australia have not won so far, therefore, the stakes are pretty high,” he said.
On the other hand, he reiterated the love and passion that Pakistan cricket fans have for the game and added that it is immensely important for them that their team win the semi-final and the tournament.
“From Pakistan’s cricket point of view, I feel as a nation that loves cricket as much it does, nothing is more important,” he stated, highlighting that the expectations back home are higher now as they know that they have got a bunch of players who are ready to go all the way in the tournament.
The former Aussie opening batsman expressed the pleasure of being present there on the eve of a T20 World Cup semi-final and stated that all four semi-finalists have put in a lot of hard work to reach there.
“We [Pakistan team] are extremely excited to come into the semi-finals of the tournament with terrific momentum, fantastic energy, and great optimism,” he said. “The Pakistan cricket team can play good cricket against any team in the world.”
The Green Shirts have been the only team that have been unbeaten so far in the tournament. They convincingly defeated India, New Zealand, Afghanistan, Namibia and Scotland in the Super 12s round of the mega event.
Pakistan will face Australia in the second semi-final of the T20 World Cup on Thursday at the Dubai International Stadium.
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