Shaheen’s six-hitting rattles India into rare huddle after Hardik assault; Sunil Gavaskar says 'this guy deserves...'
Shaheen Afridi smashed 33 off 16 balls with four sixes, including two in a row off Hardik Pandya, to rattle India in the Asia Cup clash.
Shaheen Afridi's blistering cameo turned the tide of the high-voltage Asia Cup clash, leaving India momentarily rattled in what looked like a heavily lopsided contest on Sunday at the Dubai International Stadium. Showcasing his brute force with the bat, the tail-ender smashed a fearless 33 off just 16 balls, which included four sixes, two of which came in consecutive deliveries against Hardik Pandya.
Despite losing the toss in the Group A match, India remained in complete control of the proceedings for the majority of the match. Hardik struck in the first legal ball of the match, while Jasprit Bumrah struck an over later to send Pakistan two down early in the match, before Sahibzada Farhan and Fakhar Zaman managed to rebuild for a wee bit.
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The spinners then choked the run-scoring from both ends, with the likes of Axar Patel, Kuldeep Yadav, and Varun Chakaravarthy picking six wickets between them. At one point, even 100 seemed improbable for Pakistan, before Shaheen stepped up with some clean, sensational power-hitting which took the two-time champions to a score to fight for.
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Arriving at the crease in the 17th over, Shaheen cleared his front leg to clobber Kuldeep for the cleanest slog-sweep of the day, sending the delivery over mid-wicket. In the next over, having sensed Varun's plan to bowl across to him, Shaheen rocked back to smash the second ball wide over long-off for a six.
{{/usCountry}}Arriving at the crease in the 17th over, Shaheen cleared his front leg to clobber Kuldeep for the cleanest slog-sweep of the day, sending the delivery over mid-wicket. In the next over, having sensed Varun's plan to bowl across to him, Shaheen rocked back to smash the second ball wide over long-off for a six.
{{/usCountry}}Shaheen's finest show of power-hitting came in the final over, where he took Hardik to the cleaners. On the second ball of the over, the left-armer smacked the fuller delivery over long-on. Hardik then missed the yorker on the next ball and the batter got under it and muscled it over long-on again for a maximum.
{{/usCountry}}Shaheen's finest show of power-hitting came in the final over, where he took Hardik to the cleaners. On the second ball of the over, the left-armer smacked the fuller delivery over long-on. Hardik then missed the yorker on the next ball and the batter got under it and muscled it over long-on again for a maximum.
{{/usCountry}}Shaheen's batting show forced India into their first tactical huddle of the night. The rare sight of Suryakumar Yadav and Bumrah running towards Hardik for a small chat spoke volumes about the impact of Shaheen’s onslaught, which injected life into a contest that had been tilting heavily India’s way.
{{/usCountry}}Shaheen's batting show forced India into their first tactical huddle of the night. The rare sight of Suryakumar Yadav and Bumrah running towards Hardik for a small chat spoke volumes about the impact of Shaheen’s onslaught, which injected life into a contest that had been tilting heavily India’s way.
{{/usCountry}}The back-to-back sixes also left former India captain Sunil Gavaskar ecstatic in the commentary box as he urged Pakistan head coach Mike Hesson to promote the tail-ender up the batting line-up.
He said, "This guy deserves a promotion next time because he showed what needed to be done. Those are just massive sixes...massive!"
Shaheen's performance helped Pakistan reach 127 for nine at the end of 20 overs.
