Shahid Afridi comments on Shaheen’s power hitting

Former Pakistan skipper Shahid Afridi on Saturday spoke about pacer Shaheen Shah Afridi’s batting skills while also giving him a piece of advice about what he should do on the field. 

Taking to Twitter, Afridi — who is Shaheen’s father-in-law — said that he expects the 23-year-old speedster to first perform with the ball and then with his batting. 

Afridi shared his view while replying to a tweet shared by all-rounder Shadab Khan in which Shaheen could be seen hitting boundaries during the fourth match of the ODI series against New Zealand.

“My expectations from Shaheen is first to perform with the ball because [Pakistan] depends on his early breakthrough,” said Afridi in a response to Shadab. 

“I know he is working hard on his batting as well and we have seen what he can do,” said the former captain.

Shaheen, who excels in the bowling department, had earlier said that he wanted to help the Men in Green win with his batting skills.

“I’m gradually learning the art of batting so that it helps Pakistan. I would like to win matches for Pakistan regardless of my batting position,” the 23-year-old speedster had said ahead of the series with Black Caps.

Shaheen had said that he had an interest in batting since his U19 days but never gave it a chance. However, that has changed recently, as he did a lot of batting practice during his rehab.

Moreover, Afridi also said that he has expectations from Iftikhar Ahmed and Shadab to perform to their full potential as they both have “key roles”.

The cricketer also wished them the best of luck for the fifth and final match of the series.