Man Of The Match Shaheen Afridi stole the show on Sunday with his brilliant bowling against India. The Pakistani pacer sent back the in-form opening pair of K L Rahul and Rohit Sharma with unplayable balls to set the tone for Pakistan's imposing victory by 10 wickets.
Please click on the images for a better look at the deadly Pakistani fast bowler.
IMAGE: Shaheen Afridi -- all 6 feet, 6 inches of him -- celebrates bowling K L Rahul with Pakistan Captain Babar Azam.
Photograph: Francois Nel/Getty Images
IMAGE: Afridi made his international debut in 2018 aged 18.
The Pashtun from the Zakhakhel Afridi tribe is the youngest of seven brothers whose eldest Riaz Afridi played just one Test for Pakistan in 2004 when Shaheen was 4 years old!
Afridi says he has learnt to bowl superfast toe-crunching yorkers, one of which crashed into K L Rahul's stumps.
Photograph: Hamad I Mohammed/Reuters
IMAGE: Afridi went for 17 runs in his final over, but had Indian Skipper Virat Kohli caught behind in the same over.
Photograph: Francois Nel/Getty Images
IMAGE: This is what Afridi said at the post match press conference:
10-wicket win tonight; was that in some ways the complete performance by Pakistan?
SHAHEEN AFRIDI: Thank you. I think, yeah, to be honest, a really good feeling for win against India in World Cup and a special thing for our Pakistani. First of all, congratulations to Pakistan; they all setting and they all pray for us. So yeah, I think we plan and just execute, and yeah.
It was a brilliant performance from yourself; what aspect of the team performance, though, pleased you most?
SHAHEEN AFRIDI: Yeah, just trying to bowl in the right areas, and the way Rizi and Babar finished the game and the way they're playing, I think credit goes to these two, like one-man army swinging the bat. It's good for Pakistan to start good, and yeah, our first game, and we're looking forward for more games.Shaheen Afridi at press conference.
Photograph: Kind courtesy ICC T20 World Cup
IMAGE: Same name, same number as his surnamesake Shahid Afridi, right, one of the most devastating ODI players of his time.
Photograph: Kind courtesy ICC/Twitter
IMAGE: 'He did bowl really well with the new ball... In T20 cricket, it's about execution to pick up wickets with the new ball and he certainly did that and so credit to him,' Kohli said about Afridi after the game.
'He put our batters under pressure... that spell put us on the back-foot immediately.'
Photograph: Kind courtesy ICC T20 World Cup
IMAGE: Afridi takes a selfie with his team-mates after Pakistan's triumph.
Photograph: Kind courtesy Babar Azam/Twitter
Photographs curated by Manisha Kotian/Rediff.com
Feature Presentation: Rajesh Alva/Rediff.com