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NEWS Pakistan in India 2005>Afridi looking forward to tour India 22nd Feb 2005 17.38 IST By CricketZone Bureau His slambang batting style may have cost him his wicket many-a-times but the dashing Shahid Khan Afridi is in no mood to let go of his aggression for a more cautious approach when he tours India next week with the Pakistani team. "I want to continue with my style of batting which is extremely simple - hit the ball back with the same force," the flamboyant cricketer told PTI in an interview in Karachi on Tuesday as Pakistan gear up for their first full-fledged tour of India, involving three Tests and six one-dayers, in six years.
Afridi, who holds the world record for hitting the most sixes in one-day internationals, scored a match-winning 141 in the second innings against India at Chennai on the previous tour in 1999 that came off 191 balls and included 21 fours and three sixes. In three Tests against India, Afridi has scored 233 runs. But it is in the one-dayers in which the charismatic pathan has proved to be India's scourge as he has scored 1,024 runs in 42 appearances with a century and four half-centuries. "The other target I have set for myself, besides helping Pakistan win the series in India, is to score a century while batting low down the order. And for that, I have taken inspiration from Adam Gilchrist who scored a marvellous 113 at Sydney last month while batting at No. 6." With a strike rate of 105 in one-dayers and little under 70 in Tests, Afridi said given a choice he would prefer to open the innings on sub-continent wickets because of the low bounce. "But I think I have been selected for this tour as a bowler who can bat instead of 1999 when I was picked as a batsman who could bowl, which means batting down the order and bowling more than before." Afridi said he was not targeting any Indian bowler but added in a lighter vein that the Pakistani public would want him to sort out Indian left-arm seamer Irfan Pathan . "What a sight it would be - one Pathan attacking another Pathan! Irfan caused a lot of problems for us last year and I think our people have not been able to digest that. Maybe they want me to avenge that but the bottomline is that he has six deliveries in an over while it will take just one ball for me to make a mistake (and be dismissed)," he said. "It will be a good contest (with the Indian bowlers) but I have not targeted anyone. Let's see who gets locked in the radar," Afridi said with a broad smile. Recalling his 141 in Chennai, Afridi revealed that it was a personal glory for him. "Not many people know that Javed Miandad, who was our coach, had opposed my selection in the team. He had asked for Asif Mujtaba who was a sedate and mature batsman. But I got the nod from skipper Wasim Akram and selector Salahuddin Ahmed. "Other than that, the century is also worth remembering because it was scored in a very pressure situation. Moreover, Sachin Tendulkar also scored a century in that match but my century proved to be the match-winning innings," he said. "Sachin got the Man-of-the-Match award ahead of me and Saqlain Mushtaq (who took 10 wickets in the match) but the satisfaction of being on the winning side in India was something that was priceless," Afridi said. Commenting on the forthcoming series, he said, "India, by all means, is a better Test team because it has batsmen who can play long innings and bowlers who can take 20 wickets. But we are a far better one-day side and we have proved that recently. "We are better in limited overs game because we are aggressive and have more utility cricketers in our team than India." Also View In-Depth Coverage: Pakistan in India 2005 Team Page: India Team Page: Pakistan | LIVE CRICKET COVERAGE NEWS ~ Gilchrist has no plans to retire after World Cup ~ Ganguly's new batting approach may cost him sixer record ~ India 'squash the Orange' in World Cup warm-up game ~ Symonds gets a new hairdo for World Cup ~ Dhoni readies himself for stand-up act at World Cup (more in NEWS) FACE-TO-FACE ~ 500-mark a possibility in World Cup: Hayden ~ Minnows add charm to World Cup: Dravid (more in FACE-TO-FACE) COLUMNS ~ Will Sri Lanka replicate 1996 World Cup success? (more in COLUMNS) OFF-THE-FIELD ~ Ganguly again the darling of corporate world ~ Ganguly roped in as brand ambassador of Puma (more in OFF-THE-FIELD) PLAYERS Sachin Tendulkar, Sourav Ganguly, Rahul Dravid, Anil Kumble (more PLAYERS) TEAMS India, South Africa, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Australia, West Indies, Zimbabwe, England, New Zealand, Bangladesh, Kenya, Holland | 
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