Sachin will have to wait for 100 international tons: Afridi

Pakistan captain Shahid Afridi predicted that Indian batting maestro Sachin Tendulkar will have to wait until after the World Cup to reach the milestone of scoring 100 international centuries.

“Sachin will have to wait until after the World Cup for his 100th international century because we are not going to allow either him or any other Indian player to play a big innings,” Afridi said.

Tendulkar has been in prolific form in the World Cup and completed 18,000 runs in One-dayers in the previous game against Australia. He needs just one more hundred to complete 100 international centuries, the first by any batsman.

Pakistan will take on India in the second semifinal of the World Cup to be held in Mohali on March 30 and Afridi said he was confident of his side beating India.

“It is a game of cricket and both teams can lay claim they will win the semi-final but given our current form I am confident we can beat India,” Afridi said.

Admitting that his team-mates wanted to face India in the semi-finals, the skipper said, “The players wanted this clash and we are looking forward to it. We know the expectations are high but at the end of the day I have told the players that the team, which controls and keeps its nerves in such a high tension match, will prevail.”