Multan Sultans coach heaps praise on ‘exciting prospect’ Shaheen Afridi

DUBAI: Multan Sultans head coach Tom Moody has hailed Lahore Qalandars’ fast bowling sensation Shaheen Shah Afridi as one to look out for and nurture.

Shaheen’s fiery spell of 3.4-1-4-5 destroyed Sultans’ batting to help Qalandars secure their maiden win in the tournament after six consecutive defeats.

Moody, speaking to media after the game, said that Shaheen is an exciting prospect and a player to nurture for the future.

“He had a good day out today, there is no question. He had difficult first three games and was out of the side. But the conditions were favoring him and he took advantage of that,” the former Australian cricketer said.

“Certainly to me, he is an exciting prospect, he is tall and has got some pace and will get quicker and has the spirit that I like. He is certainly one to look out for the future and to nurture. At this age, he will have some challenges, but he is certainly the one to nurture,” Moody said.

Talking about his team’s defeat, the Sultans coach said that the game changed dramatically after the first half of the match.

He, however, didn’t agree with the observation that his team became complacent.

“We recognise that Lahore had a difficult tournament to date, we also recognise that they have some serious match winners in their team. We need to continue to perform so that we can have momentum throughout the tournament, so complacency doesn't spring to mind,” he said.

“The game shifted dramatically after the first half or just before the first half, the back half of the batting became difficult. The ball became soft and was also reversing and it was hard to get the ball away.. all that down to the changed ball after Sangakkara hit that six early on, I think that was the fourth over. The changed ball as a replacement was not as hard and new as we were using,” he added.