'Bowlers were left to share jokes' - Shahid Afridi recalls Lahore Test against India

Shahid Afridi was one of the best hitters of the ball. Ever since he made his ODI debut in 1996, he garnered a name for himself for being a powerful hitter and a fantastic stroke player. The right-handed batsman had scored three Test centuries against India. Two of those centuries had come in the Test series against India in Pakistan in 2006.

On Friday, Afridi went down the memory lane after Pakistan Cricket shared an old image of him and Shoaib Akhtar on its official Twitter handle. After seeing the tweet, the former Pakistan skipper replied recalling the Test match in Lahore in 2006 against India. He said that the pitch was so flat that even a lethal bowler like Akhtar had no option than laughing around to ease his suffering.

For Shahid Afridi, century in Lahore against India is one of his favourite Test innings

“Great memories, this was I believe after one of my favourite Test inns in Lahore against India in 2006, Shoaib was always a threat for batsmen but this was a very flat wicket and bowlers were left to share jokes to overcome their pain”, the 40-year-old wrote in his reply.

Great memories, this was I believe after one of my favourite Test inns in Lahore against India in 2006, Shoaib was always a threat for batsmen but this was a very flat wicket and bowlers were left to share jokes to overcome their pain 😂 https://t.co/9kTCuH4pYU

— Shahid Afridi (@SAfridiOfficial) May 29, 2020

You were always at an advantage. Calling yourself a bowler when you wanted and a batsman when you wanted 😛😜😝.
Surely a batsman in this one as you scored a 100.
Main toh bowler he tha bhai on this bowlers graveyard that day. https://t.co/bfgilfGBij

— Shoaib Akhtar (@shoaib100mph) May 29, 2020

It was indeed a very flat wicket to bat on at the Gaddafi Stadium in Lahore. The Pakistan team batted first and scored 679 for 7 before declaring. In that innings, Afridi scored 103 runs from just 80 balls. His strike rate during the innings was 128.75. He smashed all the Indian bowlers to the cleaners during his knock which consisted of seven fours and seven sixes. No wonder that Afridi called this innings of his as one of his favourite knocks in Tests.

After this, Virender Sehwag and Rahul Dravid stitched an opening partnership of 410 runs as the match ended in a dull draw. Sehwag scored 254 runs from 247 balls smashing the Pakistani bowlers to all parts of the ground. Dravid also managed to score 128 runs during that record-breaking partnership.

Interestingly, Afridi got another century in the next match in Faisalabad. In that game, he scored 156 runs from just 128 balls with 20 fours and six sixes. It remains his highest Test score. Pakistan drew that match as well before finally managing a win in the final Test in Karachi. With that, the Inzamam-ul-Haq-led team won the three-match series 1-0.