Former Australia opener and current Pakistan batting coach Matthew Hayden clarified his statement which he made after India lost to Pakistan by 10 wickets in their opening match of the T20 World Cup 2021.

Hayden, in the aftermath, said Indian batters came into the tournament facing 130kph deliveries in IPL 2021, hence couldn’t adjust to the heat of Shaheen Afridi’s bowling, who picked three wickets in Rohit Sharma, KL Rahul, and Virat Kohli including Rohit for a golden duck.

“They (the Indian batters) had been facing 130km/h deliveries for the last month during the IPL. It’s a different cup of tea when you are facing someone running and bowling at Shaheen Shah Afridi’s pace. They were the best two balls that I’ve seen in five weeks. A fast in-swinging yorker and the courage that it takes to bowl that delivery against Rohit Sharma with the new ball is admirable,” Hayden had told Fox Cricket.

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This raised quite a few eyebrows given the IPL 2021 featured bowling talent from around the world including the likes of Anrich Nortje, Lockie Ferguson, Avesh Khan, and Kagiso Rabada, all of whom are clocked over 140 kph on a consistent basis during the tournament.

The 49-year-old tried to downplay his controversial statement by citing examples of all the bowlers mentioned above but added that Shaheen Afridi is different as he has both swing and pace in his armory.

“Nortje, Ferguson, Siraj, Avesh. Most IPL teams do have a genuine speeders. Pace is one weapon for sure, the other is swing and Afridi has both. It’s exciting to watch this type of bowling and sadly you don’t see it too often in the modern game,” commented Hayden on an Instagram post.

Pakistan has won both of its first two games in the T20 World Cup 2021 and will next face Afghanistan on October 29.