Afridi makes his 200th Twenty20 match special

Sharjah. Shahid Afridi made his 200th Twenty20 match a special one on Sunday night at the Sharjah Cricket Stadium. As captain of Peshawar Zalmi, Afridi showed how to conquer a formidable team like Quetta Gladiators with a splendid spell of 5 for 7 in four overs to steer his team to an eight-wicket win.

Afridi wants to continue showing the way for his team as captain of the Pakistan Twenty20 team in the oncoming Asia Cup and ICC World Twenty20 Cup.

When asked whether he wanted to make his 200th match a special one with his best ever spell in Twenty20 format, he said: “I always think my performance is vital for the team so I lifted myself and bowled as per the requirement, I hope this continues in the Asia Cup and then in the World Twenty20. Frankly, I didn’t know that this is my best performance but it is a good feeling. I think in this format a captain’s performance is always vital.”

Though Quetta did rest some of their top players, their team made up of stars like Kumar Sangakkara and Grant Elliott was still formidable. “I always say that whoever commits less mistakes will win. No doubt, Quetta is a good T20 team and we are trying hard to match them. I did not want to make too many changes because it is tough for the foreign players to gel,” said Afridi who has also ensured his team is in the knock-out stage.

Afridi’s spell reduced Quetta to 66 for 9 and Afridi wanted to get them all out for below 100. Quetta, however, went on to make 129 runs through a last-wicket partnership between Elliott and Zulfiqar Babar. “We gave away too many runs, 20 extra runs in the last few overs so we want to correct those mistakes and if you don’t learn then it’s bad,” warned Afridi who hates being slack on the field.

Afridi is delighted with the large turnout for the PSL matches and wants youngsters playing in the PSL to learn how to handle crowd pressure. “We don’t get crowds in our domestic matches so they don’t play under any pressure but here I have noticed that with some good crowds they are doing well under pressure. So after two to three years they will learn to play well in front of big crowds and under pressure and when they come to the international level they will know exactly ow to play under pressure,” said Afridi, who feels Pakistan need to find some good batsmen. “We have got some good bowlers, mainly spinners, but we haven’t found any good batsmen. If a senior player feels that his time is over he should leave and that’s my way. I will not take time if I feel that I am not up to the need, I will go.”

Now that Afridi has decided to retire after the Twenty20 World Cup will he be associated with cricket in a different role? “I have not planned anything for future. For me every day is a new and beautiful day. It is always better to look at it day by day. I enjoy playing with kids and motivating them. I have a hospital and am doing some charity work.”