Pakistan's pace-bowling spearhead Shaheen Afridi said Team India deserved to lift the T20 World Cup 2024 trophy for the way they handled the pressure against South Africa at Kensington Oval, Barbados on June 29.
"I watched the match and enjoyed it and both the teams played well. On the day whichever team handles the pressure wins," Afridi told reporters in London.
"India played a good brand of cricket and deserved to win," he added.
While India won their second T20 World Cup title, Pakistan faced an early exit after losing to co-hosts USA and Rohit Sharma’s brigade. He admitted that Pakistan need to make a few changes to make the result go their way as strong teams go into a major tournament after going through a process.
"Strong teams compete in the World Cup and they come after going through a process. I think we need to correct few things and if we work hard, results will be with us," he added.
The 24-year-old had earlier paid tribute to Indian skipper Rohit and Virat Kohli as the legendary duo announced their retirement from T20Is.
"Memorable end to a remarkable T20I career [...] congratulations India on winning the T20 World Cup," Shaheen wrote on his Instagram account.
Afridi’s form in T20 World Cup 2024
The left-arm pacer was in decent form in T20 World Cup 2024 barring the match against USA where he remained wicketless and conceded 33 runs. He bagged a wicket each against India and Canada followed by a three-wicket haul against Ireland in the dead rubber.
Babar’s captaincy in question, Afridi’s brief sint as T20I captain
Meanwhile, there is a question mark over whether Babar Azam will retain his captaincy in the format. Under his leadership, Pakistan were knocked out of first round in ODI World Cup 2023 and T20 World Cup 2024.
Last year, when Babar relinquished captaincy across formats, Afridi was named captain of the T20I team. However, he did not get off to a good start losing four out of five matches in the away series against New Zealand. When Mohsin Naqvi became Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) chairman, he reinstated Babar as captain.
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