PSL’s Afridi moment!

DUBAI: You can’t keep Lala out of the game, even when he is not really in his element.Shahid Afridi swung and missed as he tried to provide his new team — Karachi Kings — with a last-minute impetus in their opening HBL Pakistan Super League (PSL) match against Quetta Gladiators on Friday.

The experienced all-rounder, looked awfully out of touch in his brief innings of 4 that came off 8 balls before Shane Watson put Afridi out of his misery.Afridi was better with the ball as he helped contain the Gladiators with the rest of Karachi’s bowling attack and in the process scalped Gladiators’ captain Sarfraz Ahmed cheaply.

But Lala was unable to do really make his presence felt. Then came the 13th over of Quetta’s innings.Umar Amin, looking set on a 30-ball 31 in Quetta’s chase of 150, hit Mohammad Irfan over long on.

It seemed that the ball will beat Afridi in the deep. But he managed to arch back and timing his jump to perfection tries to catch the ball with his right hand. But he anticipates that he could tip over the ropes and hurls the ball in the air before coming back to complete a stunning catch.

Within seconds, his jubilant team-mates surround him to congratulate on what is easily one of the best catches of all time. Afridi, who turns 38 next week, admitted that he surprised himself with the blinder. “These days, I try to hide myself on the field but Babar (Azam) told me to field in the deep. It worked well. Fielding is an art, you have to enjoy it. If you don’t, you will be found out. You have to be ready all the time,” he said.