Former Indian spinner Harbhajan Singh hailed Shaheen Shaheen Shah Afridi’s match-winning spell against Ireland at the Central Broward Regional Park Stadium Turf Ground, Lauderhill, Florida on Sunday. The lanky pacer rocked Ireland’s top-order after Babar Azam decided to bowl first.
Afridi returned with impressive figures of 3-22 in his quota of four overs and played an instrumental role in restricting Ireland to 106-9. The left-arm pacer accounted for Andre Balbirnie, Harry Tector, and Lorcan Tucker in his fine spell.
Afridi bagged five wickets in four matches of the T20 World Cup at an average of 21 and an economy rate of 6.56.
“Shaheen Afridi bowled well. He came in proper form slightly late in this tournament. Their tournament is over but this match would give him confidence for sure. A big player feels bad when he doesn’t perform as per expectations,” Harbhajan Singh said on Star Sports.
The Turbanator added that Afridi will feel better after his fine spell against Ireland.
“However, he will feel better today as he did a job where both he and his team will feel nice. As he said, their focus will be on the future. They will reflect on whatever has happened, rectify their mistakes and move forward,” Harbhajan stated.
Bhajji noted that there was help for the fast bowlers but still one needs to hit the right areas to reap rewards.
“There was a lot of help from the pitch but despite that, you have to pitch the ball at the right spot, from where the ball goes and hits the stumps or the pads. He generally bowls those deliveries. He bowled a very good ball (to Andy Balbirnie), which was far from the bat and it got a chance to swing,” he explained.
Harbhajan lauded Afridi for moving the ball both ways and then surprised Andrew Balbirnie with an incoming delivery.
“After that, he took the ball away. He was like a sword that cuts from both sides – the first ball came in and the second ball went away. When the batter was waiting for an incoming delivery, the ball went out. When the earlier batter was waiting for the ball to move away, it came in. After that, he bowled a yorker,” Harbhajan observed.
