T20 World Cup: Shaheen Afridi aims to gain 100 percent match fitness
'I pray that the injury I went through doesn’t happen to anyone else,' says Shaheen Afridi
PERTH: Pakistan cricket team’s fast bowler Shaheen Shah Afridi has said that it is never easy to make a comeback following an injury that has kept a player out of action for three months.
Talking to media on Sunday at ICC mixed zone following Pakistan’s six-wicket win over the Netherlands, Afridi said that his pace is same as what it used to be before injury.
Afridi missed T20 Asia Cup 2022 and Pakistan’s tour of Netherlands, along with the tri-series in New Zealand, earlier due to injury but made a comeback for the T20 World Cup 2022 after completing his rehabilitation in the United Kingdom.
“It is never easy for anyone to make a comeback after such injury. I pray that it doesn’t happen to anyone else, only the person who underwent same injury can understand what I went through,” Shaheen said.
“I am trying to give my best in each game, your match fitness is different than routine physical fitness and I am quickly regaining that too,” he added.
Afridi revealed that staying away from team due to injury and spending time in the UK during rehab process was most difficult time for him.
“Initially, I wasn’t even allowed to walk, it was stressful time but my team mates kept boosting my confidence,” he said.
“Two weeks before coming to Australia for World Cup, I started bowling in indoor nets in UK and I opted to practice on hard surface there as I knew that surface here would be hard too,” Afridi concluded.
The left-arm pacer has so far managed to bag only a wicket in three T20 World Cup 2022 games.
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