Shaheen Shah Afridi reveals some surprise and dangerous spell to come
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COLOMBO: Pakistan pace ace Shaheen Shah Afridi has warned his devastating spell against arch-rivals India that set the Asia Cup alight is just the start, with the World Cup only weeks away.
The left-arm fast bowler rattled the Indian top-order in their Group A clash last week, taking 4-35 — including the wickets of star batters Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma.
That match was washed out but they meet again in Colombo on Sunday in the Super Four stage of the Asia Cup, a precursor to the 50-over World Cup that kicks off next month.
And Shaheen told AFP there is more to come.
“Every match against India is special and people watch this a lot,” the 23-year-old said Friday. “I used to wait for this match as a fan before I played under-16 cricket.”
“I can’t say this has been my best spell so far. This is just the start and there will be many more, so the best is yet to come.”
With his ability to move the ball both ways, Shaheen leads one of the most potent pace attacks in the world.
“If you play all the three formats at such a young age for Pakistan and handle the new ball, people expect you to perform like that,” he said.
Shaheen and his fellow fast bowlers Naseem Shah and Haris Rauf have picked up 23 wickets between them in the Asia Cup so far.
“We know our roles with the new and old ball,” Shaheen said.
“Haris is quicker than us and impacts with his pace. Naseem and I try to get early breakthroughs.”
The “communication is good between us,” he added. “And that’s our success.” APP/AFP
