SHARJAH, Nov 21: Popular all-rounder Shahid Afridi on Monday said he has put all off-field problems behind him after guiding Pakistan to an impressive series win over Sri Lanka.

“I think action speaks louder than words, a lot has been said but now I want to be a good cricketer and want to perform,” said Afridi.

“When you have a good atmosphere around you, then you try your best to deliver and I am overjoyed by the support in Sharjah where they cheered my singles so I was happy to put my head down initially,” Afridi added.

He said he is happy to support his captain Misbah-ul-Haq.

“The way Misbah is leading, its great and the management is very good and when I was the captain Misbah was very helpful so I need to support him now he is the captain.”

Afridi said as a senior player he wanted to be a role model.

“I want seniors to take more responsibility because I don’t want youngsters to be told in every meeting that they must improve, so I want to set some examples for the new players.”

The fifth and final match is in Abu Dhabi on Wednesday. The two teams will play a Twenty20 International, also in Abu Dhabi, on Friday.—AFP

Scoreboard

PAKISTAN: M. Hafeez c Chandimal b Prasanna    27 Imran Farhat c Sangakkara b Fernando    10 Younis Khan c Mendis b Fernando    18 Misbah-ul-Haq run out    16 Shoaib Malik lbw b Mendis    2 Umar Akmal lbw b Mendis    2 Shahid Afridi c Sangakkara b Perera    75 Sarfraz Ahmed lbw b Prasanna    10 Saeed Ajmal lbw b Fernando    20 Umar Gul b Malinga    7 Aizaz Cheema not out    3 EXTRAS (LB-2, W-8)    10 TOTAL (all out, 49.3 overs)    200 FALL OF WKTS: 1-18, 2-57, 3-62, 4-69, 5-71, 6-97, 7-120, 8-181, 9-191. BOWLING: Malinga 9.3-0-38-1 (2w); Perera 10-1-36-1 (2w); Fernando 10-3-26-3; Mendis 9-0-40-2; Prasanna 10-1-55-2 (4w); Dilshan 1-0-3-0.

SRI LANKA: W.U. Tharanga c Younis b Aizaz    16 T.M. Dilshan c Sarfraz b Aizaz    11 K.C. Sangakkara b Afridi    58 L.D. Chandimal b Hafeez    11 M. Jayawardene c Hafeez b Afridi    55 A.D. Mathews c Sarfraz b Saeed    0 B.M.A.J. Mendis lbw b Afridi    2 N.L.T.C. Perera c Umar Akmal b Afridi    7 S. Prasanna c and b Afridi    0 S.L. Malinga lbw b Saeed    4 C.R.D. Fernando not out    0 EXTRAS (LB-3, W-6, NB-1)    10 TOTAL (all out, 45.2 overs)    174 FALL OF WKTS: 1-18, 2-37, 3-53, 4-155, 5-156, 6-161, 7-168, 8-168, 9-174. BOWLING: Umar Gul 6-0-19-0; Aizaz Cheema 8-0-48-2 (2w); Mohammad Hafeez 8-1-23-1; Shoaib Malik 5-1-17-0 (1nb, 2w); Saeed Ajmal 9-1-29-2 (1w); Shahid Afridi 9.2-0-35-5 (1w). RESULT: Pakistan won by 26 runs. UMPIRES: Zameer Haider (Pakistan) and R.K. Illingworth (England). TV UMPIRE: M. Erasmus (South Africa). MATCH REFEREE: A.J. Pycroft (Zimbabwe). MAN-OF-THE-MATCH: Shahid Afridi. FINAL MATCH: Abu Dhabi (D/N), Wednesday.