Shaheen Afridi is improving day-by-day, it’s fun watching him bowl: Pakistan skipper Babar Azam

By ANI

KINGSTON: After registering a 109-run win in the second Test against West Indies, Pakistan skipper Babar Azam heaped praise on pacer Shaheen Shah Afridi.

A career-best bowling performance by Shaheen Shah Afridi helped Pakistan win the second Test and draw the two-match ICC World Test Championship series against West Indies. The hosts were dismissed for 219 on day five at the Sabina Park, Kingston, on Tuesday.

“The plan was always to ask them to bat for 20-25 overs on the fourth day, and it eventually worked out well for us. Take the lead up to 330-340, and then to make them play in whatever time remains on the fourth day. We had to level the series and so had to take some bold decisions for that — which we did take — and things worked out well for us,” ESPNcricinfo quoted Babar as saying.

“He is really young, and the way he is grooming himself and performing for Pakistan shows he is such a good talent. He is only improving day-by-day and learning as well. He is leading the bowling too, and it was fun watching him bowl. He believes in himself, and each time he is given the ball, he bowls with the same pace and aggression. And so this is really helpful for me as captain,” he added.

Talking about Fawad Alam’s century in the first innings, Babar said: “Like I have always said, he is an experienced player. He has so many runs in first-class [cricket] and has such a brilliant record there,” Azam said. “And so the way he handled the pressure, built his innings and contributed for the team as per the conditions was outstanding. All our batsmen must also learn from him.”

Claiming career-best match figures of 10/94, Shaheen Afridi took four wickets on the final day, leaving the hosts 109 runs short. Nauman Ali (3/52) and Hasan Ali (2/37) were miserly at the other end, as a number of West Indian players failed to capitalise on the starts.