T20 WC: Bowling to Babar in nets helped Shaheen Afridi prepare against Kohli
Oct 25, 2021
Dubai [UAE], October 25 : Pakistan pacer Shaheen Afridi, who stole the show on Sunday with his brilliant bowling against India, said he bowled to India skipper Virat Kohli just like he used to do to Babar Azam in the nets.
Shaheen Afridi got the better of Rohit Sharma (0) and KL Rahul (3) and India were reduced to 6/2 in the third over before he dismissed Kohli in the 19th over.
"Had planned to dismiss Virat but he is a number one player. There is no difference in the batting of Babar and Virat. I just bowled how I used to bowl Babar in nets. I didn't get the swing in my third over so I tried to hit the good length or bowl a slower cutter," said Shaheen Afridi in the post-match press conference.
The Pakistan pacer stole the show with his tight bowling in the powerplay as India looked almost clueless after losing Rohit and Rahul.
Shaheen revealed it was the first time in his career that he bowled three overs in the powerplay and also said he had planned to dismiss Rohit.
"It is the first time that I've bowled three overs in the powerplay and the ball was moving, so I wanted to give a breakthrough to my team and the conditions were such that the ball was moving. I just tried and got results," said Shaheen while replying to a query from ANI.
"Bowling yorker with a new ball is my strength and I always try to provide a breakthrough to my side. I had planned to dismiss Rohit and it paid off," he added.
Mohammad Rizwan and Babar put on a remarkable show on Sunday as Pakistan thrashed India by 10 wickets at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium.
Rizwan (79*) and Babar (68*) didn't give any chance to India bowlers to come on top as the two batsmen dominated the proceedings. Pakistan chased down the target of 152 without losing a wicket as India looked clueless in their opening match.
Before this game, Pakistan had failed to beat India in the history of the men's World Cup but the Babar-led side came out with flying colours on Sunday on the back of some sensational performance after Shaheen's show with the ball.
