Skipper Afridi wary of Buttler

Dubai - "We gave some senior players a rest in the last warm-up game," says Afridi

Pakistan captain Shahid Afridi has pinpointed Lancashire wicketkeeper-batsman Jos Buttler as England's dangerman ahead of the best-of-three Twenty20 series between the two teams here.
Buttler was dropped from the England Test side that lost 2-0 to their hosts on this tour, with an accrued 34 runs from four forlorn innings resulting in his omission from Alastair Cook's team for the third and final five-dayer in Sharjah.
However, the 25-year-old gloveman bounced back superbly from that dire disappointment to smash England's fastest-ever one-day international (ODI) century from just 46 balls in the 50-over series, which the tourists won 3-1.
That quickfire, wondrous knock has led to swift speculation that Buttler may get a Test recall sooner rather than later, with exiled batsman Kevin Pietersen recently saying South Africa won't necessarily mind if he misses out on the forthcoming tour. England team-mate Sam Billings also hailed Buttler as a 'freak' that can lead the way with his ever-aggressive, attacking style.
Buttler's powerful performances have certainly caught the attention of Afridi, who knows plenty about him already anyway having lost to Buttler's Lancashire Lightning in the NatWest T20 final at Edgbaston while with the Northamptonshire Steelbacks earlier this summer.
"He's one of the best cricketers at the moment, especially in Twenty20. He did really well in the ODIs," the 35-year-old all-rounder, known affectionately as 'Boom Boom,' admitted.
"He played against me at county level in the final as well. He is very talented and a great entertainer."
Afridi is, of course, a fine judge of entertainment and talent having enthralled crowds throughout his illustrious career.
His tongue in press conferences can clearly be as sharp as his blade out in the middle though, with one question in Urdu getting short shift and then a 'Next' in English.
When asked about how he proposed to minimise Buttler's impact, Afridi delivered an all-too-obvious, cutting answer: "How are we going to stop him? We'll try to bowl well to him."
He put his retirement from ODIs, his fitness and his enjoyment of the game as the three main reasons why he continues to perform at the highest level and duly stood in front of the press pack here as his country's T20 skipper yesterday (Wednesday) afternoon.
Afridi will name his side for the first of three T20s tonight (Thursday), when he may have to make an enforced change at the top of the order as Pakistan look to sign off this three-format tour in some style.
"We gave some senior players a rest in the last warm-up game," he explained.