Shaheen Afridi Exhibits Confidence on Pakistan’s Asia Cup Final Hopes

Pakistan’s star pacer Shaheen Shah Afridi has exhibited confidence in his team performance. He has rejected the perception that Pakistan team is going through a downfall. The pacer is confident that Pakistan team will reach the Finals of the Asia Cup, as that is their main purpose and focus right now. He highlighted the performance of the team in the recently concluded tri-series, which was won by the green shirts comprehensively.

After giving a strong performance against Sri Lanka in the Super Four clash, Shaheen is confident that Pakistan will march to the finals of the ACC Men’s Asia Cup 2025. He is also not worried about the other team that will make it to the finals, as Pakistan is ready to take on anyone who comes in their way.

While attending a press conference, he was asked why Pakistan hasn’t performed positively against big teams in recent times. The star pacer acknowledged the fact, but said that they haven’t played much against top teams in the last few months. He said that Pakistan has given strong performances against every team with which they have played recently, such as Bangladesh, West Indies, Afghanistan, and others.

"It's not that we're not winning. We've won most of our last dozen games. It's true we haven't won against higher-ranked teams, but most of our recent games haven't been against them. We were here to win the tri-nation series, and we won that. We are here to win the Asia Cup, and that's all we're focused on now." said Shaheen Afridi.

In the game against Sri Lanka, Shaheen performed specifically well against the opening Sri Lanka batters. He dismissed both Kusal Mendis and Pathum Nissanka inside the Powerplay, giving Pakistan a good early start in the game. Due to this early jolt, Pakistan kept things under control. They didn’t allow Sri Lanka to score freely in the Powerplay and afterwards. As a result, they only posted 133 on the board at the end of the innings.

In the press conference, Afridi was also asked whether some of Pakistan bowlers are struggling against good batters in the Powerplay. The star bowler replied that batters these days are playing aggressively in the first six overs, so keeping them quiet often becomes a tough task for the bowlers.

“I don't think our fast bowlers are struggling, but in T20 cricket on good wickets, batters have the license to go after the quick bowlers. We've been trying to vary our bowling more, and that's something I'm working on. We were getting swing. Early on, I got breakthroughs, removing two of their main players. That's the kind of attacking cricket we want to play - get your main bowlers on and finish the game quickly.” said Afridi.

Meanwhile, when asked about Suryakumar’s comments about India-Pakistan rivalry, Afridi said that he is not bothered by the opinions of any individual. The star pacer said that the Pakistan team is committed to playing in the final and winning against any team that reaches there.

"That's his opinion; let him say what he wants. Neither they nor we are in the final. We'll see how things shape up for the final. We're just here to win the Asia Cup, and we'll give our all for that." said Shaheen Afridi.

Pakistan will now face Bangladesh on Thursday in a must-win Super Four clash. They are confident to perform positively against Tigers, as beating them will give Pakistan a confirmed spot in the Asia Cup 2025 final.