Shaheen Afridi, on Sunday (June 16), finally returned to form with a stunning spell to put Pakistan in the driving seat against Ireland in the 36th game of the ongoing ICC T20 World Cup 2024.
Babar Azam’s decision to bowl first was justified by Shaheen Afridi immediately as the left-arm pacer picked up two wickets in the first over. On the third ball of the over, he castled Andrew Balbirnie with absolute beauty to send him back for a three-ball duck.
On the fifth ball of the same over, he also dismissed Lorcan Tucker to leave Ireland 2 for 2. In his next over, Shaheen Afridi struck again to return Harry Tector for a six-ball duck to reduce Ireland to 15 for 4 He finally finished the innings with figures of 3 for 22 in his 4 overs.
While Shaheen Afridi did well with the ball against Ireland, he is still being trolled on social media because of an interview he gave just after the end of the innings. The Pakistani leader has become a joke due to his English speaking skills.
When the left-arm spinner was asked about the collision incident that took place during the game, he strangely went on to describe his team’s performance with the ball.
“Oh yes, you still know that a ball is swinging until the old ball helps the fast bowler, so I think there is a very good job as a bowling unit,” said Shaheen Afridi.
Watch Shaheen Afridi’s interview:
Question: what happened with the collision?
Shaheen: 🤢🤮#pakvsirl #wct2024 #irlvspak #shaheen #World Cup pic.twitter.com/IxNYSRbyBi— Ravi Manuja® (@ravimanuja) June 16, 2024
Shaheen Afridi Commenter: Tell us about the collision that happened between you and Usman Khan.
Shaheen: Yes the ball was swinging well so I bowled well 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣
— Dabangg Yadav (Aheer) (@DabanggYadav_) June 16, 2024
What happens on the field during a collision?
Shaheen Afridi
“Oh yeah, you still know a ball is swinging until the old ball helps the fast bowler, so I think it’s a very good job as a bowling unit.”#PAKvIRE #WorldCupT20W pic.twitter.com/lgytPDgbYj— Cricpads (@cricpads) June 16, 2024
What happens on the field during a collision?
Shaheen Afridi
“Oh yeah, you still know a ball is swinging until the old ball helps the fast bowler, so I think it’s a very good job as a bowling unit.”How many questions are there and how many answers are there?#PAKvIRE… pic.twitter.com/ltlasDKDUz
– Meerabra🥀 (@meerabra291) June 16, 2024
Talking about the game, Pakistan restricted Ireland to 106 for 9 in 20 overs. Ireland were reeling at 32 for 6 at one point before Gareth Delaney’s 31-run knock helped them post a respectable total. In response, Pakistan were at 57 for 4 in 10th at the time of writing this report.
Meanwhile, both Pakistan and Ireland have been eliminated from the T20 World Cup and will look to end their campaign on a winning note.