2016 ICC World T20: It's always pleasing to see Shahid Afridi come up and play shots everywhere, says Mohammad Hafeez

New Delhi: Pakistan cricket team frontline batsman Mohammad Hafeez was pleased to see skipper Shahid Afridi come and play shots all around the park.

Afridi struck a fiery 49 runs off just 19 deliveries, to help his side beat Bangladesh in the ICC World Twenty20 at the Eden Gardens in Kolkata.

Hafeez said that everybody knows how Afridi can take the game away and was pleased to see his skipper back in form.

"It's always pleasing to see him to come up and play shots everywhere. The fans love it, we love it as a team. We know that he can take the game away from the opposition. It's great to see him come back into the form with the bat and ball also,” said Afridi.

Afridi has faced the brunt in recent times after his "we get more love in India than in Pakistan" comment, and has also been criticised for his poor form.

But after his match-winning performance with both bat and ball, Hafeez feels that Afridi showed character despite all the pressure surrounding him.

"To be honest, it's great to see someone who was under pressure from the media and people and to come up with something like this shows the kind of character he got," Hafeez said.

Pakistan are up against arch-rivals India on March 19 at the Eden Gardens in the most sought-after WT20 match of the tournament.

Hafeez went on to say that Pakistan would hope to carry forward their winning momentum set by Afridi.

"That performance will boost his confidence and the whole team will definitely follow the momentum he has set in the first match."

(With PTI inputs)