PESHAWAR Oct 24 (TNS): “I told him not to take the pressure, I said just don’t think about who you are bowling to and play your natural game,” Asmat Khan Shinwari told the media on Monday, hours after his son shattered the Sri Lankan batting line in Sharjah with his quick fifer, in just 21 balls.
The media met him at his home, Asmat Khan thanked God for the whitewash and said that he is happy not only for his son but for the whole team.
He added that when Usman was leaving for UAE for the series, he asked him not to take the pressure and play his natural game.
Usman Shinwari destroyed Sri Lanka with a five-wicket burst to help Pakistan achieve a 9-wicket win in the fifth and final match for a 5-0 clean sweep of the series on Monday.
Shinwari produced a remarkable opening spell of five overs, in which he had 5 for 12 at one stage – all the wickets coming in his first 21 balls. The Sri Lankan batsmen just couldn’t seem to deal with Shinwari’s speed and the skid he generated and fell one after the other.
The 21 balls Shinwari, who debuted in the fourth ODI on Friday, took to record a five-wicket haul was the third fastest in ODI history. Chaminda Vaas took five wickets off just 16 balls against Bangladesh in the ICC Cricket World Cup 2003, while Timm van der Gugten, the Netherlands pacer, got there in 20 balls against Canada in 2013.
