Shaheen Shah Afridi is keen to emulate the “dileri (valour)” with which his “hero” and former Pakistan captain Shahid Afridi, also his father-in-law, used to play
the game.
In the ongoing World Cup, which is also his first experience of the flat Indian pitches, Pakistan’s pace spearhead has seen both sides of the coin in spite of all his efforts. With 16 scalps at present, the left-arm quick is among the top wicket-takers in the current edition while he has been expensive as well at certain stages.
Lack of swing in these conditions has certainly plagued quicks in this World Cup, which Shaheen acknowledged. However, on Tuesday against Bangladesh at Eden Gardens, Shaheen did seem like the Shaheen Pakistan and the rest of the cricketing fraternity expect him to be.
The tad slow and dry Eden pitch did have a little bit of purchase for pacers early on. The 23-year-old exploited that to rock the opposition top order and lay a platform for Pakistan as they eventually won the game comfortably by seven wickets.
“It (Eden pitch) was quite a slow surface. So, what needed to be done there was bowl with variation and mix it up a little. That would lead to getting more purchase,” Shaheen said.
It has been challenging times lately for him, but the quickest fast bowler to 100 ODI wickets and currently the No.1-ranked bowler in the 50-over format trusted his variations to regain the momentum that Pakistan badly needed to keep their semi-final hopes afloat.
“Lack of swing is even affecting the other left-arm fast bowlers like Mitchell Starc and Trent Boult. We always try to get the ball to swing, but it’s not happening much. So, the length here becomes crucial,” Shaheen said.
“That 6-7 metre gap matters. If you bowl at that 6-7 metre gap, it’s a bit tougher to hit early on. But I always try to bowl keeping variations in mind because both Haris (Rauf) and (Mohammad) Wasim have pace.”
However, Shaheen still has a lot of work to do as New Zealand and England will pose bigger challenges for him than Bangladesh, believes former Pakistan pacer Sikandar Bakht. “Yes, Shaheen bowled better yesterday (Tuesday) and his run-up was pretty smooth, but I’m surprised he said he has had to make adjustments on the slow Indian pitches,” Bakht told The Telegraph on Wednesday.
“It’s just that the Pakistanis did not prepare themselves as they were playing in different leagues (T20 and T10) all over the world. I still believe Shaheen isn’t 100 per cent fit, that’s why he couldn’t bowl properly earlier.
“Besides, his five-for (5/54 versus Australia) wasn’t impact bowling as quite a few of his wickets were that of tailenders.”
