Former Pakistan cricketer Inzamam-ul-Haq was not happy with Lahore Qalandars captain Shaheen Afridi’s decision to move up the order. He said there are other specialist hitters in the team and they could have done the job well.
The PSL 2024 encounter between Lahore Qalandars and Quetta Gladiators was one of the most exciting games of the tournament. It became even more fascinating when Lahore captain Shaheen Afridi moved up the batting order and played magnificent innings.
Shaheen Afridi came to bat at number 5 and brought out his aggressive best. He came out all guns blazing and slammed a magnificent century to a close. The left-arm pacer scored a quick half-century off 28 balls and helped his team reach a dominant position in the match against Quetta Gladiators on Sunday (March 11).
Shaheen Afridi finished with 55 innings off 34 balls. He had a strike rate of over 161 in his innings and also scored two fours and four sixes in his innings. His knock propelled Lahore Qalandars to a total of 166 runs in the 20 overs.
Inzamam-ul-Haq criticized the 91-run partnership between Abdullah Shafique (59*) and Shaheen Afridi against Quetta Gladiators. He said that the duo batted 14 overs together and should have taken the score to over 200 and not 166. Speaking on a Pakistani channel, he explained:
“This partnership between Abdullah Shafique and Shaheen Afridi… if you look at the scorecard, it looks very impressive, scoring 55 off 34 balls and the other scoring 59 off 39 balls. But the scorecard doesn’t do it justice.
They played all the overs, almost 14, and all they could get was 167, when it should have been more than 200. Did anyone feel that Lahore will be able to win from here? Or will Lahore defend it?
“Oh bhai… complexion khel” – Inzamam-ul-Haq on Shaheen Afridi’s innings
Inzamam-ul-Haq further stated that Shaheen Afridi moving up the order and scoring runs is not good for the team. He highlighted that with David Wiese and Sikandar Raza in the team, the result could have been different.
Inzamam-ul-Haq further lashed out at Shaheen Afridi, saying that Lahore Qalandars must stop analyzing individual efforts as it will hamper the team’s performance. He stated:
“Shaheen comes to bat at number 5 but scoring at that rate is not good for the team. With specialists like David Wiese and Sikandar Raza, the result could have been better. Oh bhai… complexion khel (Boss, score faster). They need to deal with an important fact. If you start getting involved in individual efforts, the team cause will be ruined.”
Lahore Qalandars could not win the match as Quetta Gladiators chased down the target with 6 wickets in hand.