KL Rahul’s wicket belongs to Shoaib Malik, not me: Shaheen Afridi

Pakistan speedster Shaheen Afridi has revealed an interesting story behind the famous dismissal of Indian opener KL Rahul, during India-Pakistan T20 World Cup match.

Shaheen Afridi (3/31) struck twice in his first seven deliveries to rattle India on October 24, after Pakistan decided to bowl first.

The left-arm pacer, who was adjudged player of the match, fired in a searing yorker-length delivery to dismiss Rohit Sharma lbw for a golden duck and, in his next over, rifled one through KL Rahul's gate to rearrange the stumps.

Speaking about Rahul’s scalp, Shaheen said that veteran all-rounder Shoaib Malik played an important role in that dismissal.

“I asked Shoaib, can I bowl fuller? He said to me ‘Shaheen don’t bowl fuller, just try to bowl length here, yeah? So I said yeah, not too much swing in first over, so let me try to bowl the ball,” said Shaheen while talking to The Telegraph.

“Shoaib is playing for 22 years for Pakistan. He’s played a lot of cricket, he knows everything because every conditions, he played in… he has experience so that’s why I asked him which ball shall I bowl to Rahul,” he added.

“Thank you, it’s not my wicket, it’s your wicket,” Shaheen said to Malik after dismissing Rahul.

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Shaheen headlined Pakistan's disciplined bowling effort to restrict arch-rivals India to a modest 151-7 in a rematch of the inaugural 2007 final.

Babar and opening partner Mohammad Rizwan then returned to overwhelm the target with 13 balls to spare and register Pakistan's maiden win against India in a World Cup in their 13th attempt.