Matthew Hayden, former Australia cricketer, and current Pakistan batting consultant, reckoned that facing deliveries of around 130 kph during the Indian Premier League isn’t the same as facing Shaheen Shah Afridi. The veteran, who’s working as Pakistan’s batting consultant in the T20 World Cup 2021, said that the Indian batters were taken aback by Shaheen Shah Afridi’s pace after they faced military medium pace during the IPL.
On Sunday, October 24, Shaheen Shah Afridi ran through Team India’s top-order after he got rid of Rohit Sharma and KL Rahul in his opening spell. Then he came back to dismiss Virat Kohli, who scored a half-century. As a result, the Men in Green won the match by 10 wickets. Shaheen Shah Afridi deservingly got the Player of the Match award for his stupendous bowling display at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium.
Matthew Hayden: Indian Batsmen Taken Aback By Shaheen Shah Afridi
In Pakistan’s opening game against India, lanky paceman Shaheen Shah Afridi put India on the back foot from the start with the wickets of openers Rohit Sharma and KL Rahul off his first seven deliveries. He finished with 3-31 after dismissing India’s top scorer, skipper Virat Kohli for 57 in a total of 151-7 in 20 overs.
Skipper Babar Azam and fellow opener Mohammad Rizwan knocked off the target of 152 odd in 17.5 overs without losing a single wicket. Babar Azam hit 68, not out, while Mohammed Rizwan finished with an undefeated 79.
“The Indian batters had been facing 130 kph deliveries for the last month during the IPL. It’s a different cup of tea when you are facing someone running and bowling at Shaheen Shah Afridi’s pace,” Hayden was quoted as saying.
“Nortje, Ferguson, Siraj, Avesh. Most IPL teams do have a genuine speeders. Pace is one weapon for sure, the other is swing and Afridi has both. It’s exciting to watch this type of bowling and sadly you don’t see it too often in the modern game,” commented Matthew Hayden.
He opined that India’s top order struggled against Afridi because they were majorly facing deliveries bowled at 130km/h in the recently concluded Indian Premier League (IPL) 2021, and the Pakistan pacer was much quicker. With IPL featuring T20 stalwarts from different parts, Matthew Hayden’s viewpoint raised a lot of eyebrows.
The 49-year-old said most of the IPL franchises do have genuine speedsters, citing examples of Lockie Ferguson, Anrich Nortje, Avesh Khan, and Mohammed Siraj. However, he asserted that Shaheen Shah Afridi’s ability to swing the ball with pace.
Matthew Hayden Inspired By Fantastic Sporting Brotherhood Between The Arch Rivals India – Pakistan
Matthew Hayden was also amazed to see a great amount of brotherhood between players of the two teams. Even as the scene outside got heated up, the players showed sportsman spirit on the ground. Virat Kohli and MS Dhoni, Team India’s mentor, were seen having a chat with the Pakistan cricketers after the end of the match.
“The thing that inspired me the most out of the performance was the fantastic sporting brotherhood,” Hayden had said.
“That’s the role of sport, so it’s beautiful to see those moments where MS Dhoni is holding court with a few of the (Pakistan) players and Virat Kohli and (Rizwan), you know, in brotherhood, joining hands after there was heated battles in the middle,” he added.
Matthew Hayden, in the meantime, was appointed by the Pakistan Cricket Board after head coach Misbah-ul-Haq and bowling coach Waqar Younis stepped down from their respective positions. South Africa’s Vernon Philander was roped in as Pakistan’s bowling consultant. Having beaten India and New Zealand, Pakistan is sitting on top of the table in their group. Their next match is against Mohammad Nabi’s Afghanistan on Friday, October 29.