Yousuf believes Afridi's absence badly affected Kings

Pakistan former captain Muhammad Yousuf has pointed out that Karachi Kings missed the services of superstar Shahid Afridi during their Sunday night's encounter against Islamabad United in the ongoing third edition of Pakistan Super League (PSL).

“Karachi Kings was missing Afridi, particularly his bowling that is highly effective. If he would have played, he probably have taken a couple of wickets and would have choked the run flow,” said Yousuf, quoted local media.

“Karachi Kings suffered because of non-availability of Afridi last night [Sunday],” he added. The Karachi Kings suffered their first loss of the PSL season, after losing the game by eight wickets, as United cruised to the target of 154 runs with 16 deliveries remaining.

The former Pakistani batsman criticized Kings top order batsman Babar Azam for playing too slowly on a flat track, Azam hit 55 runs of 53 deliveries, hitting three boundaries and two maximums.

“Azam is an experienced player and plays regularly for the national side, but he played too slowly on a flat wicket. He should have managed to maintain a better strike rate when he was set,” he said.

Earlier, Afridi injured his knee just before the start of his team’s Friday’s game against Multan Sultans. Meanwhile, the Kings would next play against Sarfraz’s Quetta Gladiators, on Thursday, March 8.