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 27Imran Farhat c Sangakkara b Fernando 10Younis Khan c Mendis b Fernando 18Misbah-ul-Haq run out 16Shoaib Malik lbw b Mendis 2Umar Akmal lbw b Mendis 2Shahid Afridi c Sangakkara b Perera 75Sarfraz Ahmed lbw b Prasanna 10Saeed Ajmal lbw b Fernando 20Umar Gul b Malinga 7Aizaz Cheema not out 3EXTRAS (LB-2, W-8) 10TOTAL (all out, 49.3 overs) 200FALL 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 16T.M. Dilshan c Sarfraz b Aizaz 11K.C. Sangakkara b Afridi 58L.D. Chandimal b Hafeez 11M. Jayawardene c Hafeez b Afridi 55A.D. Mathews c Sarfraz b Saeed 0B.M.A.J. Mendis lbw b Afridi 2N.L.T.C. Perera c Umar Akmal b Afridi 7S. Prasanna c and b Afridi 0S.L. Malinga lbw b Saeed 4C.R.D. Fernando not out 0EXTRAS (LB-3, W-6, NB-1) 10TOTAL (all out, 45.2 overs) 174FALL 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.