Pakistan bowler Shaheen Afridi has reaveald that how he tackled the India batting trio of Rohit Sharma, KL Rahul and Virat Kohli at the 2021 ICC Men’s T20 World Cup.
Shaheen Afridi was the star performer in the 2021 Men’s T-20 World Cup. The youngster’s opening spell pushed India on the backfoot, Afridi’s new-ball spell proved to be the difference between the two teams as he first trapped Rohit lbw for a first-ball duck in the very first over and then bowled Rahul on three in his following over. And later dismissed Kohli on 57 to restrict the Men in Blue to 151/7 in 20 overs.
Meanwhile, Shaheen said he had a fixed plan going against Kohli while he tried to pitch it up to Rohit and Rahul. In a chat with Cricbuzz, Afridi spoke about the surreal experience from the match that earned him plenty of praise from the global cricketing fraternity.
“The end I was bowling from, the leg-side boundary was smaller, say about 60-65 meter only. If I had bowled straight and fast at him [Virat Kohli], he would have flicked me or pulled me for runs. So I wanted to mix things up and bowl a slow bouncer at him so that it would have been difficult for him to go leg-side.” Shaheen said.
“Luckily for me, the ball gripped and he got out. I admire Virat Kohli a lot, he’s one of the best around. Rohit, Rahul and Kohli are their mainstays and three of the best batsmen in the world. Kohli unki reedh ki haddi hai (Kohli is their spinal cord). And once you get them out, it gets difficult for the middle order. And if one of them bats deep, it gets easier for the batsman coming in later. Since I was getting some swing in that match – and the team anyway wants wickets from me early on – I was trying to pitch it up to Rohit and Rahul and I was able to get both of them out,” he added.
“It was a great day for me, to be honest. A lot of people watch India-Pakistan matches, including those who don’t even like cricket (laughs). When I look back on that win, I feel very proud. Yes, we couldn’t win the World Cup but we did well in that game against India and I’ll try to give my best even in the next World Cup,” said the Pakistan pacer.