Afridi rewarded their eight-year-long wait on Sunday with an all-round performance — 75 runs and a five-wicket haul — they will remember forever.
Ever since Afridi introduced his trademark arms-aloft style of celebrating his wickets, they haven't got to see him live. In fact, with Afridi announcing his retirement, they even feared that they would never see him again.
On Sunday he showed he is still in top form and how great a loss it would have been for Pakistan had he hung up his boots. "I am feeling great and I feel all the more happy because Pakistan won the match," he remarked after the match.
Afridi admitted that he had arrived in UAE with the aim of proving his worth. "I had a point to prove and actions always speak louder than words. There were a lot of challenges and there were a lot of things that I had to prove wrong about me," said Afridi who had announced his retirement following differences with his cricket board.
"I know there are a lot of expectations from me and I too understand how my batting could help the team. I am acting exactly according to the demand as I made my comeback with an aim and a goal. Now I want to play cricket and nothing else, and focus on my game."
Talking about his innings that lifted Pakistan from a batting collapse, Afridi said: "I got the message from my skipper that I should carry on and play the full [50] overs. He informed that if we can score around 225 runs it will be very good on this pitch."
Afridi's 75 runs contained four boundaries and three sixes. "I tried my best at my end and Saeed Ajmal too did a great job," he said.
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