Shaheen Afridi says, “I phoned him,” about whose counsel he followed prior to Pakistan’s “memorable” World Cup victory over India.

Aces Pakistani speedster Shaheen Shah Afridi reminisced about his team’s thrilling victory over India, their bitter rivals, at the United Arab Emirates 2021 T20 World Cup. The Men in Green defeated the Virat Kohli-captained team at the time by a margin of ten wickets thanks to three wickets from Shaheen.

After winning the toss in the Super 12 match, Pakistan made the wise choice to field first. After taking crucial wickets from Indian openers KL Rahul and Rohit Sharma in the first and third overs, respectively, Shaheen Afridi started to run wild early in the first innings. Then, with 57 runs scored, the 23-year-old claimed the most valuable wicket from Kohli.

In the end, Pakistan limited the Men in Blue to a disappointing 151. Later, with 13 balls remaining and all 10 wickets intact, Pakistan crossed the finish line thanks to unbroken performances of 68 and 79 from former captain Babar Azam and wicketkeeper-batter Mohammad Rizwan.

Player of the Match Shaheen Afridi recounted Pakistan’s victory in a recent live conversation on X (formerly Twitter).

He also mentioned the person he had consulted for advice prior to the match. Even though they ultimately lost to Australia in the semifinal, he called the victory “memorable.” Significantly, following 12 losses in a row, Pakistan’s victory versus India in a World Cup match was their first.

“In the previous T20 World Cup, we had never defeated India. We had a great time with the 2021 version! I called Lala Shahid Afridi and asked for his advice. In addition, we wanted to win for Muhammad Hafeez and Shoaib Malik,” Shaheen Afridi remarked.

Furthermore, following his outstanding performance in the 2021 World Cup, Shaheen Afridi was selected as Pakistan’s first choice for new balls in all game types. He was appointed captain of Pakistan’s T20I team in November 2023 after Babar Azam resigned from the position after an unmemorable ODI World Cup performance in India. He led the team for the first time during the five-game away T20I series against New Zealand. In addition, Pakistan lost by a score of 4-1, denying him the chance to win his first series as captain.