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Afridi predicts a thriller

November 11, 2004 17:38 IST

Pakistan's hard-hitting batsman Shahid Afridi expects Saturday's India-Pakistan encounter to be nail-biting thriller.

"We have won three matches in a row against India and want to make it four in a row," said Afridi in Kolkata on Thrusday.

"India will be looking for revenge and we expect them to come back hard," he added.

Emphasising that the young players in the team were fired up for the one-off match at the Eden Gardens to mark the Platinum Jubilee of the Indian Cricket Board, he said, "it (the match) is going to have a very close finish".

Asked to name a potential threat among the Indians, he said, "I don't want to name any individual player but the fact is that they (Indians) have a very strong batting line-up".

Apart from this, the Indian team also has the advantage of playing at home ground and with crowd support, he said.

Asked to predict the winner of the match, he only said, "Anything can happen. Both sides are strong".

Among the Indian bowlers, Afridi feels, Irfan Pathan and Zaheeer Khan have been bowling very well.

Incidentally this is Afridi's second visit to the city within a year as he was here in last December with Pakistan 'A' side after which he made a comeback to the senior side as a middle-order batsman.

He said the transition helped him a lot as now he could bat in relaxed manner. Earlier, he said, he had to open the innings immediately after fielding and bowling for 50 overs.

"This has helped me relax and bring balance in the team and my performance has also improved", Afridi said.



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