Shahid Afridi ecstatic over Pakistan's 3-0 win against Australia

Cricket is a great leveller. A month ago, Pakistan cricket was in doldrums after the Men in Green were walloped twice by arch-rivals India in the Asia Cup and they crashed out of the tournament by losing to Bangladesh. October has been far better for the Asian side as the team beat Australia at home in Tests and T20Is, more comprehensively in the latter.

On Sunday, Pakistan completed a 3-0 whitewash of Australia after defeating them 1-0 in a two-Test series. Although this is the fourth time that Pakistan defeated their opponents 3-0 in a T20I series in the United Arab Emirates they handed such a crushing defeat to Australia for the first time ever and among all Pakistani fans, former captain Shahid Afridi was also elated.

Afridi lauds Shadab, Imad, Babar

The 38-year-old former all-rounder, the fifth-highest run-getter for Pakistan in T20Is with 1,405 runs, lauded Pakistan for their win over Australia calling it a “brilliant performance” by an “outstanding” team. He commended the performance of bowlers Shadab Khan and Imad Wasim, both of whom excelled in the series and never allowed the Australian batting to explode.

While Shadab was chosen as the Man of the Match in the third T20I, Imad won the best player’s awards in the first two games. He also did not forget to congratulate opener Babar Azam who hit two fifties in the series besides a 45 to end up as the Man of the Series.

For Australia, Afridi’s take was they “badly missed” two of their premier batsmen – Steve Smith and David Warner – both of whom are serving a year-long ban following the ball-tampering scandal in South Africa earlier this year. Led by Aaron Finch, the Australian batting struggled in all the three matches that they chased Pakistani targets but ended up unsuccessful. Afridi added that a 3-0 win against a team like Australia is always special.

This was yet another whitewash for Australia in a bilateral series following their humiliating 0-5 loss in a five-ODI series in England.

Here is Afridi’s tweet

Brilliant performance by an outstanding Pakistan team! Well bowled Shadab, great series for Babar/Imad. Australia badly missed Smith/Warner. But 3-0 win against Australia is special every way. #PAKvAUS

— Shahid Afridi (@SAfridiOfficial) October 28, 2018

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