Pakistan’s ace speedster Shaheen Afridi is hopeful that the Men in Green will win the Asia Cup and World Cup this year.
While speaking in an interview with Geo News, Shaheen said that the remaining ODI matches before the two major events will be important for the Pakistan team.
“I hope that Pakistan wins the Asia Cup and World Cup this year,” Shaheen said after the fourth ODI against New Zealand on Friday.
“The ODI matches before the World Cup will be crucial for us and will help us put up a good show during the mega event,” he added.
The Asia Cup is set to be hosted by Pakistan in September this year, meanwhile the World Cup, in India, is likely to begin in October.
Shaheen also spoke about his knee injury, which kept him on the sidelines in the recent past.
“Injuries are part and parcel of a player’s career. Even a machine can stop working at times,” he said. “The time I spent on the sidelines was difficult but I learned a lot from it.”
“I feel much better now, in terms of fitness, and eager to do well on the field in all formats of the game,” he added.
It must be noted that Babar Azam scored a superb century Friday to help lift Pakistan to the top of the ODI rankings after a thumping 102-run victory in the fourth match against New Zealand in Karachi.
Azam stroked a 117-ball 107 and also became the fastest batter to reach 5,000 ODI runs, as his team made 334-6 in their 50 overs.
His 18th ODI hundred took him past the mark in his 97th innings in the format, beating former South Africa batter Hashim Amla´s previous record of 101 innings.
New Zealand were bowled out for 232 in 43.4 overs with skipper Tom Latham (60), Mark Chapman (46) and Daryl Mitchell (34) offering some resistance.
Leg-spinner Usama Mir led Pakistan´s bowling charge with a career-best 4-43 while pacers Mohammad Wasim (3-40) and Haris Rauf (2-37) also impressed.
The win gave Pakistan a 4-0 lead in the five-match series and took them to number one for the first time since the International Cricket Council officially recognised the rankings in 2005.
Pakistan´s previous highest ODI ranking was third which they attained in January 2018 and again in June 2022.
— Additional input from AFP
Faizan Lakhani Faizan Lakhani is Deputy Editor (Sports) at Geo News.- Shaheen Afridi