Former Pakistan captain Salman Butt believes Pakistan should have continued with the speedster Shaheen Afridi’s opening spell in the T20 World Cup 2022 final against England on Sunday, November 13. While speaking on his YouTube channel, he added that the left-arm pacer should have bowled three overs there as the team needed to pick up wickets regularly in order to defend their low total of 137.
He stated that captain Babar Azam missed the trick by not giving the star bowler an extra over in the powerplay as well.
He said: “Shaheen Afridi is more effective with the new ball and had also provided the side with an early breakthrough. Why wasn’t he given a third over upfront? He is the most lethal bowler in the lineup and was in a great rhythm.”The only way Pakistan could have won was by picking wickets. So why did they stop his spell at that stage? He should have been given a third over, and I would have even given him a fourth if he had taken a wicket.”
Notably, Shaheen Afridi gave his side a great start, dismissing England opener Alex Hales with a brilliant inswinger in the first over of the run chase as well. He hurt his knee while taking a catch later in the game and he had to leave the field as well.
However, Salman Butt applauded the Pakistani bowlers for their inspired performance in the all-important final. He stated that they were able to keep the pressure on the opponents by hitting the right areas consistently. However, they picked up five wickets while defending a sub-par total. But Ben Stokes kept his calm, remaining unbeaten on 52 to help his team chase down the total in 19 overs.
“The young bowlers did a fantastic job and kept England under pressure. They bowled a lot of wicket-taking deliveries. Unfortunately, they kept getting beaten. With that said, it was an aggressive display from the bowling unit. While they did lose the game, there are a lot of positives to take from their efforts,” Salman Butt concluded.
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