Watch: Shaheen Afridi bowls a toe-crushing yorker in fiery spell against Afghanistan in T20 World Cup warm-up – Firstcricket News, Firstpost

Shaheen Shah Afridi is back and how!

The Pakistan left-arm pacer sent out a dire warning to opposition batters, especially the Indians who face them on Sunday, with a fiery spell against Afghanistan in the ICC T20 World Cup warm-up fixture in Brisbane on Wednesday.

Afridi, who was required to prove his match-fitness to the team management in the practice games, decimated the Afghan top-order with a powerplay spell that was reminiscent of his dismissals of India’s Rohit Sharma and KL Rahul in last year’s World Cup in the UAE.

Afridi first trapped Rahmanullah Gurbaz with a searing yorker for a golden duck, the batter completely at sea against the toe-crusher, in the fifth delivery of the innings after Pakistan opted to bowl.

Afridi would strike the very next over, dismissing the other opener Hazratullah Zazai by rattling his leg stump with a full toss. Afghanistan, who had suffered a narrow one-wicket loss against Pakistan in the Asia Cup recently, were reduced to 11/3 at the end of the third over, with the prospect of crossing 100 suddenly looking very difficult.

Pakistan skipper Babar Azam would give Afridi a breather after those two overs, the left-arm pacer’s figures reading 2/4 at the end of the spell.

The left-arm pacer had missed out on the Asia Cup as well as Pakistan’s home series against England and the tri-series in New Zealand, with the persistent knee injury also casting a shadow over his participation in the ICC T20 World Cup in Australia.

His latest performance, though, makes it abundantly clear that Afridi will once again be vital to Pakistan’s chances of winning a second world T20 title.

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