IND vs PAK: "I Don't Think Rohit Sharma Is Able To Read Or Understand Shaheen At All" - Shoaib Akhtar On Indian Skipper's Struggle

Former Pakistan pacer Shoaib Akhtar opened up about Team India captain Rohit Sharma’s struggles against left-arm pacer Shaheen Afridi in the Asia Cup 2023. Shoaib Akhtar highlighted that Rohit Sharma has not been able to read Shaheen Afridi’s swinging new ball.

Rohit Sharma was dismissed for just 11 runs in India’s first match of the Asia Cup at the Pallekele International Cricket Stadium on Saturday, September 2. Shaheen Afridi provided an early breakthrough for his team by dismantling Rohit’s stumps with an inswinging ball.

The left-arm pacer tried to bowl too full to the Indian opener before the rain break. The bowler set up the batter with outswing deliveries from a good length before bowling an inswinging ball, which moved enough to breach the bat-pad gap and rattle the stumps.

Rohit Sharma Can Bat Much Better Than This – Shoaib Akhtar

In a video shared on his YouTube channel, Shoaib Akhtar stated that Rohit Sharma is a better player than his performance during the third match of the ongoing Asia Cup.

“I don’t think Rohit is able to read or understand Shaheen at all. The visual of Rohit Sharma being beaten like this was not good, he is a far better player than this. Rohit can bat much better than this, I think he is worrying too much,” Akhtar said.

Rohit Sharma fell victim to Shaheen Afridi’s inswinging yorker during the 2021 T20 World Cup clash against the arch-rivals. Rohit struggled against left-arm seamers inswinging deliveries in recent times.

Shubman Gill Lost His Concentration – Shoaib Akhtar

The former Pakistan pacer believes that the rain interruptions disturbed the concentration of the Indian batters, leading to their dismissals in quick succession.

“The constant interruptions by rain, leading to the players going off the ground and coming back in, it affects the focus of the batters. Gill lost his wicket exactly because of this reason, he lost his concentration, and that is why he played such a loose shot,” he added.

What A Spell It Was By Shaheen Afridi – Shoaib Akhtar

Shoaib Akhtar praised Shaheen Afridi’s exceptional bowling spell against Rohit Sharma, highlighting his ability to consistently pitch the ball full and bring it back to the right-handed batter.

“What a spell it was by Shaheen Afridi, what a bowler he is. Everyone knows what he will do, pitch it full and bring it back in, and in spite that Rohit Sharma had no answer. But, what is Rohit Sharma supposed to do, in his defence he had last played him in 2022, he does not get the opportunity to face him too often,” he concluded.

Afridi dismissed Rohit Sharma (11), Virat Kohli (4), Hardik Pandya (87), and Ravindra Jadeja (14) in his 10-over spell. The two teams may face each other in the Super Four stage if India beats Nepal in their final league stage game.

Also read: IND vs PAK: Fans Slam S Badrinath After He Trolls Rohit Sharma For His Dismissal Against Shaheen Afridi