“The way Shaheen bowled the other night was..”: Trent Boult wishes to mirror Shaheen Afridi against India in the T20 World Cup game

Trent Boult has expressed his desire of mirroring what Shaheen Afridi did against India in the first ICC T20 World Cup 2021 game.

India is set to take on New Zealand in their 2nd game of the T20 World Cup 2021. This game is a virtual knockout one for both sides, and the stakes are very high. Team India needs to improve their record against New Zealand in the ICC tournaments, they last defeated them in the 2003 World Cup. Even in the 2019 World Cup, New Zealand became the nemesis of India.

In the first game against Pakistan, team India again proved their nemesis towards left-arm pace. Shaheen Afridi rattled the right-handed top-order of the Indian team with ease. Both Rohit and Rahul could bear Afridi’s in-swings, whereas Virat also became his victim. New Zealand also have a world-class left-arm pacer in the name of Trent Boult, and he is expecting to do the same against England.

This man is on 🔥🔥🔥🔥@iShaheenAfridi rattles up #India openers!!#INDvPAK #PurpleForce pic.twitter.com/MSqMpF7qIl

— Quetta Gladiators (@TeamQuetta) October 24, 2021

Trent Boult Press Conference

Mirroring Shaheen Afridi

Boult possesses a brilliant record against the Indian cricket team. He has scalped 71 wickets in 16 games across all-formats, whereas his H2H record against Rohit Sharma is insane. Trent has scalped Rohit’s wicket in three of seven T20Is, whereas Rohit has just scored 29 runs off 24 balls.

👀: 5/21 🤯
🏟️: Seddon Park, Hamilton#OnThisDay in 2019, ⚡@trent_boult⚡ picked a five-wicket haul against India.#OneFamily #MumbaiIndians pic.twitter.com/yhtlY42kCq

— Mumbai Indians (@mipaltan) January 31, 2021

Trent Boult knows India’s struggle against left-arm pace and has expressed his desire of copying what Shaheen Afridi did.

“The way Shaheen bowled the other night was… from a left-armer watching on I thought it was amazing. But, yeah, there are qualified batsmen in that Indian line-up.”

“Hopefully from my point of view, it swings around a little bit and I can mirror what Shaheen did the other night.”

Martin Guptill’s fitness

Boult has also confirmed that Martin Guptill is fit to face India after an injury scare against Pakistan in the last game.

“Gup is pretty good,” Boult said.

“He trained fully yesterday and didn’t see too many issues with him. So, he’s definitely a big piece of puzzle for us at the top of the innings. So, from what I know, he’s good to go.”

Who will have the edge in India vs New Zealand

New Zealand have won seven of their ten WC games against India, but Boult doesn’t believe that it will have an impact.

“I wouldn’t say we have an extra edge,” Boult said.

“Both sides are stacked with quality players. In terms of our team, we’re definitely excited about the opportunity that lies ahead for us.”