Kevin Pietersen: “[Shaheen Afridi’s] sensational new-ball spell against India set the tone for Pakistan’s tournament”

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Former England batsman Kevin Pietersen said Pakistan left-arm seamer Shaheen Shah Afridi is absolutely sensational.

Pietersen was particularly impressed with Afridi’s performance against India in the T20 World Cup, where he dismissed Rohit Sharma, Lokesh Rahul and captain Virat Kohli.

Afridi was named Man of the Match for his figures of 3-31 as Pakistan won the match by 10 wickets and secure their first-ever World Cup win over their arch-rivals.

Afridi was on fire throughout the T20 World Cup as he picked up seven wickets in six matches at an average of 24.14 and an economy rate of 7.04.

“[Shaheen Afridi’s] sensational new-ball spell against India set the tone for Pakistan’s tournament,” Pietersen, who included Afridi in his T20 World Cup team of the tournament, told Betway as quoted by Cricket Pakistan. 

In the three-match T20 series against Bangladesh, which Pakistan won 3-0, Afridi only played one match but took figures of 2-15 off four overs.

The 21-year-old followed that up with seven wickets in the first Test against Bangladesh, which included a five-for in the second innings as Pakistan won the match by eight wickets.

The second Test between Pakistan and Bangladesh will begin on Saturday in Dhaka.

Pakistan squad for Bangladesh Test series: Babar Azam (c), Mohammad Rizwan (wicketkeeper), Abdullah Shafique, Abid Ali, Azhar Ali, Bilal Asif, Faheem Ashraf, Fawad Alam, Hasan Ali, Imam-ul-Haq, Kamran Ghulam, Mohammad Abbas, Mohammad Nawaz, Naseem Shah, Nauman Ali, Sajid Khan, Sarfaraz Ahmed (wicketkeeper), Saud Shakeel, Shaheen Afridi, Zahid Mahmood

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