Lahore: Young pacer Shaheen Shah Afridi when bowls with his 16-year-old teammate Naseem Shah, reminds him of Pakistan’s former powerful pace duo of Wasim Akram and Waqar Younis.
In a video interview released by the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB), Afridi shared his experience bowling with Naseem Shah, youngest pacer to bag five-wicket haul in Test cricket. He also revealed the conversation he had with Naseem before going out on Day 4 against Sri Lanka in Karachi’s Test.
“During the second Sri Lankan innings, I had told Naseem that it was his day and he will take wickets. He had that hunger and he wanted to compete with me,
“It is a healthy rivalry to have. It is something that Wasim Akram and Waqar Younis also had. This not only brings out the best performances from us but also helps the team,” he said.
Meanwhile, Afridi expressed his feelings when he bagged his first Test fifer that too in front of the home crowd. “When I took the first wicket I wasn’t sure whether the batsman had nicked the ball,” Shaheen recalled. “It was Rizzy [Mohammad Rizwan] who told me that the batsman had edged the ball and he was very certain about it,” he added.
“It was an exceptional feeling to play in front of home crowd. It feels like we were playing T20 cricket,” he further said. It is worth mentioning here that Afridi will be seen in action once again when Pakistan takes on Bangladesh in the first of the T20 Tests series from February 7 to 11. – Agencies
