Even though Shahid Afridi is known for his swashbuckling batting, it was his bowling which was extremely productive for his nation. Afridi was wily leg-spinner who bamboozled batsmen with his deceptive pace. However, Afridi also found it difficult against one of the greatest batsmen of all time. Afridi has admitted that he felt nervous around Windies great Brian Lara as he faced a lot of issues due to his footwork.
“It would have to be Brian Lara. I got him out a few times but whenever I was bowling to him I always had the feeling in the back of my mind that he is going to hit me for four the next ball. He had an effect on me. I never bowled with any confidence to him,” Afridi told Wisden.
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“He was a world-class batsman who dominated the best spinners he came up against, even the likes of Muttiah Muralitharan in Sri Lanka. His footwork against spinners was brilliant, and the way he batted against such bowlers was a wonderful sight. He was sheer class,” Afridi added.
Shoaib Akhtar had recently suggested that a cricket match between India and Pakistan could be held to raise funds for the less privileged during the Coronavirus pandemic. However, his suggestion wasn’t met with a positive response from cricket legend Kapil Dev, who outrightly rejected the proposal saying that ‘India doesn’t need money’. Both the countries are currently in the midst of fighting the disease which has taken the lives of more than 1 lakh people worldwide.
{{/usCountry}}Shoaib Akhtar had recently suggested that a cricket match between India and Pakistan could be held to raise funds for the less privileged during the Coronavirus pandemic. However, his suggestion wasn’t met with a positive response from cricket legend Kapil Dev, who outrightly rejected the proposal saying that ‘India doesn’t need money’. Both the countries are currently in the midst of fighting the disease which has taken the lives of more than 1 lakh people worldwide.
{{/usCountry}}But Shahid Afridi was disappointed with Kapil Dev’s response. Afridi has backed his former teammate Akhtar’s proposal for an ODI series against India to help raise funds for the less privileged in their fight against the COVID-19 pandemic.
Afridi told reporters in Kohat that he was surprised by the comments of Indian great Kapil and former IPL chairman, Rajeev Shukla, who outrightly dismissed Akhtar’s suggestion.
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“The entire world is fighting against coronavirus and we need unity in our region to defeat this common enemy. Such negative comments don’t help at all,” Afridi said.
“I don’t see anything wrong with Shoaib Akhtar’s suggestion for Pakistan and India to play cricket.
“Kapil’s reaction has surprised me. I expected better from him and feel one should not talk like this in these crisis times.”Afridi said that he was also surprised at some of the “negative comments” Indian stars Harbhajan Singh and Yuvraj Singh’s support for his charity foundation attracted.