Shaheen Reveals Shahid Afridi’s Advice Before World Cup Game Against India

Pakistan’s left-arm pacer, Shaheen Shah, was very nervous before he was given the new ball against arch-rivals India in the T20 World Cup last year. The star pacer recently opened up about the plan he devised to jolt the Indian top order.

Shaheen, who was awarded player of the match, said that he had reached out to former Pakistan skipper, Shahid Afridi, for advice as he had played only one ODI against India.

“When we had that match against India in the T20 World Cup, I requested Lala to have a word with me. Because before that I played just one match against India, that too in Asia Cup, which was in One-Day format. And this was a T20 game and we never won a World Cup game against India.”

Pakistan defeated India for the first time in World Cup competitions while Shaheen bowled the magic spell of 3/31 on a batting surface and restricted the Kohli-led team to 151 which was chased down in the 17th over.

Shaheen, who haunted India’s batting line in a devastating spell that was later declared the best moment of the World Cup, further said that the former all-rounder told him to perform on the field in a way that the entire stadium notices.

“So I thought that this was a big opportunity for me. So I called Lala for some tips and asked him, ‘What different do I do today?’. He gave me very good advice and told me, ‘Do something so that the entire stadium notices only Shaheen’ and give your 100 percent in bowling and fielding. I just did that and we got the results.”