Pakistan fast bowler, Shaheen Afridi was at his very best during the much-awaited clash against India as he dismissed top-three Indian batters. He dismissed big guns like Rohit Sharma, KL Rahul, and Virat Kohli as Pakistan registered a dominating 10-wicket in their opening game of T20 World Cup 2021. This also brought an end to Pakistan’s long-running losing streak against India in World Cup events.
Speaking of Shaheen’s spectacular show, former Australian opener, Matthew Hayden, who is serving as the batting consultant of Pakistan, made a slightly controversial statement. He opined that India’s top order struggled against Afridi because they had a habit of facing the pace of 130km/h in the recently concluded Indian Premier League (IPL) 2021 and the Pakistan pacer was much quicker.
WATCH – Virat Kohli Stuns Shreyas Iyer And Ishan Kishan With His Shots In Nets
During a chat on Fox Cricket, Matthew Hayden said, “They (the Indian batters) had been facing 130km/h deliveries for the last month during the IPL. It’s a different cup of tea when you are facing someone running and bowling at Shaheen Shah Afridi’s pace. They were the best two balls that I’ve seen in five weeks. A fast in-swinging yorker and the courage that it takes to bowl that delivery against Rohit Sharma with the new ball is admirable.”
With IPL featuring T20 stalwarts from various countries, comments of Matthew Hayden raised a lot of eyebrows. Nevertheless, the former Australian cricketer came up with a clarification on one of the posts of CricTracker on their official Instagram page.
The 49-year-old said most of the IPL franchises do have genuine fast bowlers, citing examples of Lockie Ferguson, Anrich Nortje, Avesh Khan, and Mohammed Siraj. However, he asserted what makes Afridi different is his ability to swing the ball at a ferocious pace.
ALSO READ: Harbhajan Singh Feels Ishan Kishan Should Open Along With Rohit
Clarifying his statement in the comment section of Crictracker’s Instagram post, Matthew Hayden wrote, “Nortje, Ferguson, Siraj, Avesh. Most IPL teams do have genuine speeders. Pace is one weapon for sure, the other is swing and Afridi has both. It’s exciting to watch this type of bowling and sadly you don’t see it too often in the modern game.”
