Afridi's series winning performance against Lanka 'moral-booster' for Pak: Manager

After last year's spot-fixing scandal, the victory of the Pakistani team, especially with Shahid Afridi's outstanding performance in the fourth One-day series against Sri Lanka has acted as a "real moral-booster for us", Associate Manager of Pakistan team Naushad Ali has said.

"This win is a real moral-booster for us and will prove helpful in the upcoming Bangladesh series. Afridi enjoying the support of the squad and skipper Misbah-ul-Haq that is a good omen for the team to maintain unity among their ranks," The Nation quoted Ali, as saying.

On being asked who he singles out to be the outstanding player of the last victory, Naushad named Afridi, saying the latter celebrated his comeback on a high note and proved himself a match-winner and whenever he performs team register victory.

"Team missed Afridi for almost six months, when he announced his retirement from international cricket on some personal disputes with the then coach Waqar Younas and ex-chairman PCB Ijaz Butt. Afridi is a real role model for youngsters they must learn from Afridi the way he performed at crucial stages of the match," he said.

"The Pakhtuns living in Dubai, Sharjah and Abu Dhabi are die-hard fans of Afridi and I think such type of fans motivated Afridi to perform and deliver for the country," he added.