Pakistan pacer Shaheen Shah Afridi says the plan was to “bring the ball back in” against India.

Shaheen Shah Afridi, whose game-changing opening spell, said he worked hard on getting the ball back into the right-handers, which paid off handsomely against India in their T20 World Cup opener. With Shaheen claiming 3/31 and his victims being vice-captain Rohit Sharma, senior opener KL Rahul, and skipper Virat Kohli at the death, Pakistan beat India by 10 wickets to win their first game in the global event against the arch-rivals.

However, it was his magnificent deliveries to Rohit Sharma and KL Rahul that were the focus of attention following Pakistan’s victory, and he was duly handed the ‘Player of the Match’ title.

“My parents, as well as other Pakistanis, send their best wishes. My performance was excellent. The goal was to reintroduce the ball into the game. I was simply attempting to swing it and hoping to provide a breakthrough for the team “At the post-match presentation, Shaheen stated.

He said he practised such talent at the nets before the game.

“That’s what I did yesterday in the nets as well. It was difficult to bat against the new ball.”

He also praised Babar Azam and Mohammed Rizwan for their batting performances.

“The credit for how they played belongs to Babar and Rizwan. All of the teams in the event are strong, and we’ll want to maintain that momentum and get to the finals “Shaheen continued.