'I like both' - Shaheen Afridi when asked to choose between Virat Kohli, Babar Azam

Shaheen Afridi has emerged as Pakistan’s pace spearhead in the last couple of years courtesy of his consistent performances across formats. Meanwhile, the tall speedster played it safe when asked about picking one between batting megastars Virat Kohli and Babar Azam.

Shaheen has been playing cricket non-stop in the last few months and was also in the UK for participating in the 2022 County Championship, where he represented Middlesex. During that time, the left-arm pacer took some time off his busy schedule to answer some of the interesting questions that were asked.

Virat Kohli or Babar Azam?, Shaheen Afridi answers

The pace sensation spoke his heart out, but it was the last question where he decided to play it safe and came up with a smart reply. When asked about picking either Kohli or Babar during an interaction with ESPNcricinfo, Afridi replied saying, “I like both, yeah!”

During the same Q & A session, Shaheen also picked his Pakistan teammate Mohammad Rizwan over England white-ball specialist Jos Buttler and PSL over IPL. It is to be noted that Shaheen has never played in the marquee India tournament but captained Lahore Qalandars to their maiden Pakistan Super League title earlier this year.

As far as Shaheen and Kohli’s on-field face-off is concerned, the batting icon looked magnificent after the youngster had sent the Indian openers Rohit Sharma and KL Rahul cheaply with the new ball in the clash between India and Pakistan during the T20 World Cup 2021 in the United Arab Emirates. In fact, Kohli stepping down the wicket and hitting Afridi for a straight six is what stood out the most.

Nonetheless, it was the bowler who had the last laugh as he had Kohli caught behind just when he looked to accelerate in the death overs. Shaheen’s three-wicket haul ensured that the Men in Green registered their first-ever World Cup win over the arch-rivals after a long wait of 29 years.