“Bowling to Brian Lara was much tougher than bowling to Sachin Tendulkar or Ricky Ponting,” says Pakistani leg-spinner Shahid Afridi. He praised Lara for the way he used to get boundaries at will especially against the spinners. Apart from that, he rated Glenn McGrath and Mohammad Asif among the best bowlers of this era.
Afridi was quoted by The Times of India saying, "Lara was the best batsman I have seen in my entire career spanning 16 years better. Personally I found him to be a class above the two other greats of this era, Tendulkar and (Ricky) Pointing.”
"He was the most difficult batsmen I have bowled to in every format of the game. He could play and hit boundaries at will. Especially against the spinners he produced boundaries out of the hat. He was a superb player and I enjoyed watching him bat," Afridi said.
"At times I felt he was so good at playing spin that he could even bat against them blindfolded! Tendulkar and Pointing are also greats but I thought Lara was a cut above them," he added.
Apart from talking about batting greats, Afridi rated Australian, Glenn McGrath and compatriot Mohammad Asif as few of the bowlers who always knew what they are going to bowl at certain batsman. He also shared his views about how care free he was regarding his batting skills earlier and how he has worked out on that to make his presence count in the dressing room.
He was quoted by The Hindu saying, "They were the only bowlers who I felt knew when they were going to bowl an inswinger or an outswinger and that is a big quality in any bowler."
He said, "Now whenever I get out, I talk to myself and I curse myself for not finishing off a match if I am batting. This self-assessment therapy has helped me a lot. But now when I am batting I am eager to finish off matches myself. I keep on talking to myself and even if I get out, I keep analysing my batting."
"I have seen the fate of some of our former greats and how they went out. I don't want to go through that phase. I will know when the time is right for me to go (retire). Right now the time is good for me and I can carry on performing in Twenty20 and ODI cricket," he added.
According to a report in Deccan Chronicle, he rated Misbah-Ul-Haq as brilliant planner and expects that he will continue to offer his services to Pakistani Cricket. "He is an excellent planner but unfortunately not everything you plan is executed all the time. And one can't expect him to treat other players like schoolchildren," he said