Shaheen Afridi says Pakistan can still finish in top four of World Cup 2023

Pakistan, on Tuesday, defeated Bangladesh by seven wickets at Eden Gardens Kolkata to improve their NRR from negative to positive, though they’re still behind Australia and New Zealand and have an uphill task ahead of them if they have to beat them on NRR.

Authoring Pakistan’s win, Shaheen Afridi, with bowling figures of 3 for 23, also achieved the record of being the fastest pacer to reach the milestone of 100 ODI wickets.

After his remarkable display, Shaheen expressed his elation and optimism about Pakistan’s prospects in the ongoing tournament.

“Records are meant to be broken,” Shaheen Afridi modestly stated. “I am happy to be the fastest bowler for Pakistan to complete 100 wickets. I am happy that we have won the game.”

Shaheen expressed the team’s determination, saying, “We are eager to finish among the top four, and this was also reflected in our performance today. We wanted to finish the game as early as possible so that we could improve our NRR. We are still hopeful of finishing in the top four.”

Reflecting on Pakistan’s performance throughout the tournament, he acknowledged occasional mistakes.

“When you win, then everything looks good. And when you don’t, then everyone starts pointing things out. I think we didn’t play well in a few games. We did our best, but we also made mistakes like we dropped catches and did some misfielding. Things might have been different if we had not made those mistakes. Nevertheless, we are still alive in the tournament and looking forward to doing well,” Shaheen said.