Former Pakistan all-rounder, Shahid Afridi went on to recall a thrilling game against arch-rivals India owing to his match-winning knock in the 2014 Asia Cup virtual semi-final. Afridi went on to reveal also explained how he planned against the Indian off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin to help Pakistan register a one-wicket win.
During a chat with Zainab Abbas, Afridi said, “Saeed Ajmal was batting with me. I told him to put the bat on the ball and somehow get a single, but he lost his wicket. Ashwin was bowling well, then Junaid Khan came in and I told him the same thing just get a single. And he somehow managed to get me back on strike. What I did against Ashwin was that I looked towards the leg side.”
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He further added, “I wanted to trick him so that he thinks that I am going to hit on the leg side. The idea behind it was to force the off-spinner to not bowl his off-spin. And Ashwin did exactly that. He bowled the leg-spin. I hit it over the extra cover region for a six.”
India has given a target of 246 to Pakistan while batting first at Dhaka in Asia Cup 2014. Rohit Sharma (56), Ambati Rayudu (58), and Ravindra Jadeja (52) helped the men the blue to reach a respectable total. Saeed Ajmal finished with outstanding figures of 3/40 in 10 overs while Mohammad Hafeez and Mohammad Talha scalped a couple of wickets each.
Hafeez came out with a phenomenal all-rounder performance, as he perfectly anchored the innings by hitting 75 off 117 deliveries.
During the chase of the chase in the second innings, Pakistan had four wickets and they needed just 13 runs from the final two overs and Shahid Afridi was in the crease. The Indian fast bowler, Bhuvneshwar Kumar then bowled an excellent 49th over, picking up a couple of wickets and giving away only three runs.
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In the end, Afridi played a knock of 34 in 18 deliveries —including two consecutive sixes off R Ashwin in the final over which helped the men in green to complete the win with two balls to spare.
