Never bowled with confidence to Brian Lara: Shahid Afridi

LAHORE: Former Pakistan all-rounder Shahid Afridi has described Brian Lara as “sheer class”, saying he never felt confident whenever he bowled to the West Indies legend.

Afridi and Lara locked horns only twice in Test cricket but the former Pakistan skipper said the left-handed batting great had quite an effect on him.

The ace all-rounder Afridi has said that while the world might have felt nervous bowling to the likes of Sachin Tendulkar, it was former Windies skipper Brian Lara who the leg-spinner had trouble bowling to because of his swift footwork.

“It would have to be Brian Lara. I got him out a few times but whenever I was bowling to him I always had the feeling in the back of my mind that he is going to hit me for four the next ball. He had an effect on me. I never bowled with any confidence to him,” Afridi told cricket almanac Wisden.

“He was a world-class batsman who dominated the best spinners he came up against, even the likes of Muttiah Muralitharan in Sri Lanka. His footwork against spinners was brilliant, and the way he batted against such bowlers was a wonderful sight. He was sheer class,” Afridi added.

Apart from his batting, Afridi contributed immensely with his bowling as well as he snapped 395 and 48 wickets in 398 ODIs and 27 Tests.

The 40-year-old Afridi lavished praise on Lara, saying he had a brilliant footwork. “His footwork against spinners was brilliant and the way he batted against such bowlers was a wonderful sight. He was sheer class,” he said.

“His footwork against spinners was brilliant and the way he batted against such bowlers was a wonderful sight. He was sheer class.”

Afridi recently came out in support of former teammate Shoaib Akhtar who was pulled by several including Kapil Dev for suggesting that India should play a series with Pakistan to raise funds to fight the coronavirus outbreak.

“The entire world is fighting against coronavirus and we need unity in our region to defeat this common enemy. Such negative comments don’t help at all. I don’t see anything wrong with Shoaib Akhtar’s suggestion for Pakistan and India to play cricket.”