Change in Pakistan cricket team's attitude didn’t come overnight: Shaheen Afridi

• "The change in attitude of Pakistan cricket team seen during 2021 didn’t come overnight," Afridi says.
• The fast bowler says he would’ve been equally happy if Rizwan would’ve received the ICC award.
• Qalandars skipper says he’s enjoying captaincy.

KARACHI: Following a remarkable show in 2021, fast bowler Shaheen Shah Afridi is hopeful of consistency in Pakistan team’s performance during the year 2022.

Speaking to Geo News, Lahore Qalandars’ skipper Afridi said that each member of the Pakistan team enters the ground with the mindset to make the country number one and while "we are on the field, everybody backs each other."

The 21-year-old, however, said that this change in attitude didn’t come overnight.

“What you saw in 2021 was the result of the journey that started in the summers of 2020 when we were on a tour of England.

"We all had aimed for one thing and that was to make Pakistan number one side, our goals were mutual and we worked hard towards our goal and what you saw in 2021 was the result of that hard work that we had been doing,” Afridi added.

Shedding light on the captaincy of Babar Azam, he said: “The way Babar is leading from the front and taking the team forward, everyone is standing behind him."

'I would have been equally happy if Rizwan had received the award'

Afridi was announced ICC’s Player of the Year 2021 award and won the Sir Garfield Sobers Trophy for his brilliant performance throughout the year across all formats.

He expressed his delight in receiving the award but said that he would’ve been equally happy if Mohammad Rizwan had gotten that award.

“These awards reflect our performances in the year 2021, it was great to see Babar winning ODI and Rizwan getting the T201 award. 

"I am happy for my award and I would’ve been equally happy if Rizwan would’ve received the award because his performance during the year was outstanding,” Afridi said.

Recalling his memorable performances in the year 2021, the star player mentioned his performance in the Test series against West Indies where he took 18 wickets and the T20 World Cup match against India as his memorable performances.

Shaheen added that he enters the stadium every time with pride and full commitment to giving his 100% regardless of the opponent he’s facing.

“I don’t think about who is weaker or stronger, I just want to give my best in every game so that at the end of the day, I don’t have any regrets in my heart,” he asserted.

Everyone was confident ahead of game with India: Afridi

Talking about the T20 World Cup match against India, Shaheen said that it was the first world cup match against India for most of the players and everyone was highly confident ahead of the game.

“We were very confident about the game, we could feel from our body language even during training ahead of the game that we’ll take it home, we played according to the plan and thankfully won the game,” he recalled.

Plans for 2022

Afridi said that he’s hopeful that the Pakistan team will continue with the same momentum in 2022 and do well in the series against Australia.

“Australians are coming after a long time and the series is very important for us, we have prepared our minds on how to go on against them. We’ll surely enjoy playing against a strong opponent at our home ground and produce good results,” he aimed.

“Not only against Australia, but also in other events during the year, we’ll try to play with the same momentum,” the young player hoped.

How does it feel to be Qalandar's captain?

The left-hander was named Lahore Qalandars’ captain ahead of the seventh edition of the Pakistan Super League (PSL) and under his leadership, Lahore has, so far, played two games.

Afridi says he’s enjoying the captaincy and trying to bring better results for Lahore Qalandars.

“We played very good cricket in both the games so far, unfortunately, the result didn’t come in our favour in the first game but it was a good game,” he said.

“We did learn our lessons in the first two games and identified the areas where we need to improve, we will apply what we've learnt in our two games and play better cricket than previous games in matches to come,” the Qalandars’ skipper said.

Afridi said that his advice to the team members is to play champions and give 100% on the field.

He also hailed the flamboyant opening batter, Fakhar Zaman.

“Fakhar is doing exactly what’s required by the team from him. We need someone to accelerate in the start and Fakhar is doing that job. He has always done well for Qalandars and his performance is improving day-by-day which is a very good sign for us,” he said.

“Our fans have always supported us in our good and hard times, I am thankful to them and will try to give our best and produce results which they expect from us this time,” he concluded.