Shaheen Afridi picks Indian trio as dream hat-trick, reveals most prized wicket

Pakistan express
pacer Shaheen Afridi sure does love playing against India. On Saturday, the
21-year-old named his picks for the dream hat-trick that included three Indian
stars, with one of them being the most prized wicket of his career so far.

Afridi named
Rohit Sharma, KL Rahul and Virat Kohli as his dream hat-trick picks on ESPNCricinfo’s
’25 questions’. The pace sensation dismissed the trio in their T20 World
Cup opener last year, as his fiery spell helped Pakistan script a historic win
over arch-rivals India. He also said that Kohli’s dismissal in that match was
the most prized wicket of his career.

Also Read | Shaheen Shah Afridi wins ICC Men’s Cricketer of the Year award

Afridi
opened the bowling for Pakistan and made the perfect start, with an inswinging yorker
that beat Sharma all ends up and struck plumb on his pads. The right-handed
batsman departed for a golden duck in the first over of India’s campaign opener
in Dubai.

In his next
over, he bowled an unplayable length delivery to Rahul, that straightened and
nipped back in sharply off the pitch before sneaking through the gap between
bat and pad to crash into middle stump. Rahul scored just three from eight deliveries
and Afridi finished with the powerplay with a figure of 2/19.

Also Read | Not all Australian cricketers willing to undertake Pakistan tour: Report

Kohli
notched a vital half-century to help India post a respectable total, but was
dismissed for 57 from 49 in the penultimate over by Afridi, who bowled a slower
delivery that angled across and induced an edge from the then-Indian captain for
the wicketkeeper to catch.

Afridi’s
match figure of 3 for 31 helped Pakistan restrict India to 151 for seven. An unbeaten
opening stand between Mohammad Rizwan (79* from 55) and Babar Azam (68* from
52) helped Pakistan win by a record 10 wickets – which was their maiden win
over India in any World Cup fixture.

Also Read | Rizwan, Beaumont named ICC men’s, women’s T20 cricketers of the year

Pakistan
will face India again in their T20 World Cup 2022 opener in Melbourne on
October 23.