'I phoned him' - Shaheen Afridi reveals whose advice he took before Pakistan's 'memorable' World Cup win over India

Ace Pakistan speedster Shaheen Shah Afridi recalled his side's memorable win over arch-rivals India in the 2021 T20 World Cup in the United Arab Emirates. It was Shaheen's three-wicket haul that helped the Men in Green to overcome the then Virat Kohli-led side by 10 wickets.

Pakistan made the right decision to field first upon winning the toss in the Super 12 clash. Shaheen ran the riot from the beginning of the first innings as he picked the key wickets of Indian openers KL Rahul and Rohit Sharma in the first and third overs, respectively. The 23-year-old then grabbed the most prized wicket of Kohli, who scored 57 runs.

Eventually, Pakistan restricted the Men in Blue to a below-par 151. Later, former captain Babar Azam and wicketkeeper-batter Mohammad Rizwan played unbeaten knocks of 68 and 79 respectively and helped Pakistan cross the line with all 10 wickets intact and 13 balls to spare.

Shaheen, who was the Player of the Match, recalled Pakistan's win during a recent live interaction on X (formerly Twitter) and also spoke about whom he had sought advice before the game. He described the win as a “memorable” one despite eventually losing the semifinal against Australia. Notably, the win was Pakistan's first against India in any World Cup match after losing 12 consecutive games. 

“We had never defeated India in the T20 World Cup before. The 2021 edition was very memorable for us! I phoned Lala (Shahid Afridi) and took advice from him. We also wanted to win for Shoaib Malik and Mohammad Hafeez,” Shaheen said.

In addition, Shaheen became Pakistan’s primary new-ball choice for all formats of the game just after his impressive performance in the 2021 World Cup. In November 2023, he was named captain of Pakistan's T20I side after Babar Azam stepped down from the role following a forgettable ODI World Cup campaign in India. The five-game away T20I series against New Zealand was his first as captain. Moreover, he lost the opportunity to win his debut series as captain as Pakistan went down by 4-1.