Shaheen Afridi’s ball to dismiss KL Rahul the best I’ve seen: Mathhew Hayden

Pakistan batting consultant for the T20 World Cup Matthew Hayden on Wednesday said that pacer Shaheen Afridi’s ball to dismiss KL Rahul is the best he has seen. Babar Azam and company defeated India in their tournament opener. The team will play the second semi-final against Australia on Thursday at the Dubai International Stadium. 

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“Quality pace is most certainly part of Shaheen Shah Afridi’s arsenal and the white-ball does not swing for a long time in T20 cricket, in particular, it seems to be a number of balls, not a number of overs. Those number of balls can be destructive as we saw in his delivery against KL Rahul, one of the best balls I have seen ever apart from last two-three months observing cricket you know in this country,” Hayden said during a pre-match press conference.

Afridi had bowled a lethal inswinging length delivery to get Rahul’s wicket. The ball straightened and nipped back in sharply off the pitch, sneaked past the outside of the pad and went past the inside of the bat.

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“He has got that ability like every good strike bowler to be able to commit to a wonderful pace which means his preparation, recovery, and just the ability, in general, to be delivering fast deliveries day in and day out. Vernon Philander has also done well in preparing him for that. It has meant that he remains consistent in international cricket,” Hayden continued.

Hayden said that the challenge would be to keep Shaheen Shah Afridi fresh. 

“The challenge for every fast bowler is the cricket program. Unfortunately, there is so much cricket, there is a risk of over-bowling and just burnout in general. It will be careful management for Pakistan to manage an asset like Babar Azam, Mohammad Rizwan, Fakhar Zaman, and Shaheen. Guys that are playing day in and day out, need to be carefully monitored and secured as assets for tournaments,” he said.

Pakistan won all their Super 12 games and finished on the top of the Group 2 table. 

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“Yes, this is an extremely important tournament for Pakistan as it is for other nations. We face Australia tomorrow, a country that has been extremely proud to set high standards in terms of delivering trophies for the country in World Cups. T20 World Cup is one which Australia has not won, plenty of high-stake matches ahead of us now. From Pakistan’s cricket point of view, I feel as a nation that loves cricket as much it does, it is never more important, the awareness is heightened that we have players here who are ready to go all the way in the tournament. Very important for Pakistan cricket,” said Hayden.

“It is a great pleasure to be on the eve of a semi-final of the T20 World Cup. A very big tournament that is significant for every country, especially the four-member nations who have earned their way into the semi-finals. Lots of hard work has gone on in the last month. From Pakistan cricket’s point of view, we are extremely excited to come into the tournament with terrific momentum, fantastic energy, and great optimism as well,” he added.