Shahid Afridi Called Me Before The India Game: Shaheen Afridi Recalls The Former's Special Advice Ahead Of India vs Pakistan

Shaheen Afridi, the hero of Pakistan’s first-ever victory over archrivals India in a World Cup match, has said that his to-be father-in-law and former Pakistan captain Shahid Afridi is his hero and that he wanted to wear his no.10 shirt for Pakistan.

Left-arm pacer Afridi wreaked havoc with his swing and pace against India in their opening match of the T20 World Cup 2021, as he removed openers KL Rahul and Rohit Sharma for single-digit scores, before coming back and picking the uber-important wicket of Virat Kohli, who top-scored with a half-century.

This setup a brilliant 10-wicket win for the Men in Green after openers Babar Azam and Mohammad Rizwan chased down the paltry 152-run target without breaking a sweat, handing India their first loss by 10 wickets in the T20I format. Shaheen Afridi was named the Player of the Match.

‘Shahid Afridi Is My Hero… I Wanted To Wear His No 10 Shirt For Pakistan’: Shaheen Afridi

Shaheen Afridi is set to marry Shahid Afridi’s eldest daughter Aqsa and the tall pacer is in awe of his famous to-be father-in-law. Shaheen’s starship celebration after he takes a wicket imitates his hero; he has even copied Shahid’s shirt number.

“I have the number 10 because of Shahid Afridi, because he’s my hero. I requested to the PCB I want the number 10 shirt if possible. “It’s an honour for me to wear this shirt. Every time in the ground, the people were chanting Afridi, Afridi. And now people chant Afridi, Afridi for me. So it’s a great feeling,” Shaheen was quoted by telegraph.co.uk.

During the World Cup, Shaheen has regularly talked to his future father-in-law about the game.

He said: “Shahid Afridi called me before the India game and he said just enjoy your cricket the way you play, go and focus on whatever you’re doing.”

Pakistan has made it into the semi-finals of the T20 World Cup where they will face Australia in Dubai on November 11, 2021. Shaheen is excited about the match-up and mentioned that his father expects nothing less than a win from his son.

“Every time my father says to me ‘Shaheen take four, five wickets’. He called me before the India match and he said, son, go play your best cricket. I said, Inshallah I will try my best. He said, ‘it’s time to become a hero because it’s against India’ and Pakistan have never won a World Cup match [against India]. So it was really good because my family wants me to perform,” Shaheen said.

Also Read: Mirwais Ashraf Appointed As The Acting Chairman Of Afghanistan Cricket Board