Shahid Afridi scored his first T20 century during NatWest T20 match. (Source:ecb.co.uk.tv)
After slamming a 42-ball century Hampshire opener Shahid Afridi has revealed that the gamble to open the innings had paid off and one of the reasons behind his brilliant knock was his risk-taking ability.
Speaking to Cricinfo, Afridi said, “I asked the captain and coach yesterday if I could bat higher up the order because seven or eight is not my position. In crucial games you have to take chances. The first six overs are important and you need batters who play aggressively like me to utilise this.
“I wanted to put pressure on them from the start although it was not easy because the new ball was seaming. The first six overs are important and I tried to start on the attack. “I tried to start with attack – attack is your defence,” Afridi, who had not opened a T20 innings since 2011 Finals Day, told BBC Radio Solent.
Recalling the last instance when he opened for the county side, Afridi said,”The last time I opened the batting for Hampshire was finals day in 2011 but the main thing is confidence and I felt confident today.”
Meanwhile, Wayne Madsen, who dropped Afridi’s catch on 65, recalled the moment and said, “I saw it all the way and I thought it was coming straight in, to be fair,” Madsen said, having manfully agreed to front up and discuss the moment. I would probably catch those 98 times out of 100. It was just one of those things, it just hit me straight in the middle of the hand and popped right out again. He had already done us quite a lot of damage but that cost us another 40 runs and it was very disappointing obviously.”
