Former Pakistani cricketer Shahid Afridi on Sunday congratulated India after they beat arch-rivals Pakistan in their ICC World Cup match in Old Trafford, Manchester by 89 runs. “Congratulations to @BCCI on a well-deserved win today. The standard of cricket being played has been exceptionally high and credit goes to IPL for not only helping identify and harness talent, but also in equipping younger players with pressure handling techniques,” the all-rounder tweeted.
Afridi also stressed on the importance of converting good starts into big scores. “I feel it is really important for the players who get in to convert 40s-50s into big runs, that’s how you win matches. The players need to stay calm and focused and yes fielding will play a major role. 70-80 per cent of the game is won with fielding,” he said.
Put into bat in a stop-start match, India posted a commanding 336-5 with Rohit Sharma (140) smashing his second century of the tournament.
Skipper Virat Kohli (77) and KL Rahul (57) also got fifty but Mohammad Amir’s (3-47) tight death-overs spell denied India a 350-plus total in the sold out contest between the arch-rivals.
A century stand between Fakhar Zaman (62) and Babar Azam (48) kept alive Pakistan’s hopes until they suffered a batting collapse and finished on 212-6 in 40 overs chasing a revised target of 302.
Kuldeep Yadav, Hardik Pandya and Vijay Shankar claimed two wickets each for India who now have a 7-0 record against Pakistan in World Cup.
