IND vs PAK: "Rohit Sharma And Virat Kohli Were Crucial Wickets"- Shaheen Afridi After Magnificent Spell In Asia Cup 2023

Shaheen Afridi finished with figures of 4/35 as India were bowled out for 266 against Pakistan in Pallekele on Saturday. The Men in Green now need 267 runs to win the game against their arch-rivals. Interestingly, India lost all their wickets to seam while scoring freely against the Pakistan spinners.

Afridi gave Pakistan big breakthroughts in his first few overs dismissing Rohit Sharma (11) and Virat Kohli (4) in quick succession. Both Rohit and Kohli were expected to score big but were dismissed cheaply. In the process, their dismissals exposed their weaknesses against top-quality bowlers. India were reduced to 66/4 as Haris Rauf dismissed Shreyas Iyer (14) and Shubman Gill (10) who opened the innings with Rohit.

The resistance came from Ishan Kishan (82) and Hardik Pandya (87) as the duo added a 138-run stand for the fifth wicket. In the process, they played cautiously against the pacers and attacked the Pakistan spinners. Their stand was broken by Harid Rauf who dismissed Kishan.

Shaheen came back to dismiss Pandya for 87 with a slower delivery that he failed to pick up. The left-arm seamer then dismissed Ravindra Jadeja to complete his quota of four wickets in the game. Jasprit Bumrah’s late strike of 16 from 14 balls took India to the eventual score of 266.

Read More: IND vs PAK: Watch – Virat Kohli Left Stunned After Shaheen Afridi Castles His Stumps For Just 4 Runs In High-Octane Clash

The Plan By Our Fast Bowlers Worked: Shaheen Afridi

Shaheen in the mid-innings break spoke about his four wickets and particularly the wickets of Kohli and Rohit.

“That was our plan with the new ball. I think both (Virat and Rohit) were crucial wickets, every batter is the same for me. But I think I liked Rohit’s wicket better. The plans by our fast bowlers worked. Naseem is bowling at 150 kph, really happy with that, he’s really fast,” he said on Star Sports.

Shaheen Afridi then spoke about Pakistan’s chase and how they need to go about their job. He said that the Pakistan batters need to see away the seam and swing from the new ball after which scoring will become eventually easier.

“The new ball might swing and seam, nothing much after that. It will be easier to score runs once the ball gets old (in the run chase),” Shaheen concluded saying.

Pakistan have already won their first game against Nepal and need one more win to advance to the Super 4s. Meanwhile, this is India’s first game of the campaign and a must-win one.

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