Though a bit late, Gillespie reveals the Afridi secret

Sounds too simple to be true. But take his word, since this has been his tried and tested ploy. Last September in England during the Natwest series, Gillespie got Afridi out for a duck. Look at the sequence of the last four balls that Afridi faced: Two short balls, followed by two length balls the last trapping Afridi infront of the wicket.

Later the two met in the VB series in January this year. In the three Australia-Pakistan games, Gillespie got the better of Afridi once. If he didn’t manage to take his wicket, he did checked the run flow from the Pakistan batsman.

But Gillespie admits that bowling to guys like Afridi and Virender Sehwag is a huge ask for the bowlers. ‘‘It a great challenge trying to get them out and at the same time keep them quiet. If you manage to do either of them, you can say that is a job well done,’’ he says.

And a after thought he also gives a brief ploy to get Sehwag out: ‘‘He can really unsettle a bowler. But there’s always scope to get him out. He’s flashy and gives you chances. You have to set different fields for him and throw a challenge.’’