Former Pakistan all-rounder Shahid Afridi revealed that Shaheen Afridi, who was the hero of Pakistan’s historic win against India in T20 World, was under pressure on the eve of the game as he video called him to calm him down.
The left-arm pacer broke the back of Indian batting with 3 key wickets in form of Rohit Sharma, KL Rahul, and Virat Kohli as he was adjudged ‘Player of The Match’ in the historic win against arch-rivals.
The 21-year old pacer picked 7 wickets in T20 World Cup 2021 with an economy of 7.04 however former Pakistan captain said in an interview that he (Shaheen) was nervous to face the arch-rivals but he encouraged the pacer to back himself.
“Before the first game against India, Shaheen video-called me and told me that I’m feeling a bit of pressure. We talked for about 11-12 minutes, I told him that God gave you the opportunity to go out and perform, you strike those wickets and become a hero. By god’s grace, he did exactly that,” said Afridi on Samaa TV.
Shahid Afridi, who represented Pakistan in 27 Tests, 398 ODIs, and 99 T20Is, also recalled his own playing days as he revealed that many players couldn’t even sleep ahead of the Ind-Pak game.
“It’s intense. If you talk about me, we couldn’t even sleep the whole night. We used to wait for it. Some players would go into their own shell but I used to wait for that game eagerly.. ‘When will we play against India?’ I used to think. Even if someone doesn’t like cricket, they would sit in front of the television when India plays Pakistan in cricket,” said Afridi.
Shahid Afridi played 4 games against India in ODI World Cup and also represented 5 times in T20 World Cup as well though Pakistan lost on all 9 occasions. The former captain also led Pakistan on two of those occasions.
In T20 World Cup 2021, Babar Azam & Co. finally managed to break the jinx against India as they beat the arch-rivals for the first time in a World event.