Former Pakistani pacer Shoaib Akhtar lavished rich praise on the Afghanistan team for their huge win over Australia in the ongoing T20 World Cup 2024.

Thanks to half-centuries from openers Rahmanullah Gurbaz and Ibrahim Zadran and their 118-run partnership, Afghanistan managed to post 148/6 in 20 overs. Pat Cummins picked three wickets which were part of his second hat-trick in as many matches.

Then Gulbadin Naib with 4/20 and Naveen Ul Haq’s three wickets folded Australia for 127 runs despite Glenn Maxwell’s fighting half-century. Afghanistan won by 21 runs causing one of the biggest upsets in T20 World Cup history.

In a video posted on his 'X' handle, Shoaib Akhtar used a vivid analogy to illustrate Afghanistan's remarkable achievement.

He said, "Woh kehete hain na hathi sher se 100x badha hota hain aur 80x samajhadaar hota hain (They say an elephant is 100 times bigger than a lion and 80 times smarter, but when it comes to Afghan lions), they took the elephant as their lunch. They ate them. So, attitude matters a lot. Today, Afghanistan not only got their revenge but also showed great intent. And what excellent leadership was displayed by Rashid Khan. They say leadership is 80 percent mentality, and 20 percent skill. That’s the reason they were able to take down such a big elephant for lunch."

"And as for the mighty Australia, whom no one can defeat, who plays the best World Cup cricket - agreed, no one can play the World Cup better than you, but you were up against one of the toughest opponents whose attitude was like lions," the former pacer added.