Pace spearhead Shaheen Shah Afridi bamboozled batting icons Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli in the blockbuster clash between India and Pakistan at the Asia Cup on Saturday. Pacer Afridi, who has been the wrecker-in-chief against India in the past, bowled two magical deliveries to get the better of skipper Rohit and ex-captain Kohli in match No.3 of the Asia Cup at the Pallekele International Cricket Stadium.
Opening his account in the high-profile encounter, Afridi bowled to the Indian skipper on a length around the off before the ball nipped back in to break the batter’s defence. The deadly delivery rattled the off stump as Rohit was dismissed for 11 off 22 balls. Giving Afridi his second big wicket in the blockbuster encounter, Kohli played the Pakistani speedster onto his stumps. This was the second time that Kohli was dismissed by pacer Afridi in international cricket.
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‘The execution from Virat Kohli was not good’
Talking about Kohli’s forgetful knock on ESPNcricinfo, former Indian opener Wasim Jaffer explained how Kohli should have tackled the wicket-taking delivery by Afridi. “He tried to play with an angled bat towards third man. The ball stopped a bit and then he got that inside edge. Maybe if he would have played it straighter, the dismissal might not have taken place,” Jaffer said.
Kohli was perished for 4 off 7 balls in India’s Asia Cup opener at Pallekele. “When the ball is coming onto the bat nicely, they you can easily score runs towards third man. But when the ball is moving around, there are chances that it can jag back and hit the stumps. The execution from Virat Kohli was not good,” Jaffer added.
After Afridi rattled the Indian top order, the record-time Asia Cup winners bounced back through Ishan Kishan and Hardik Pandya as the middle-order batters recorded a crucial 138-run stand against Pakistan. Kishan (82) and Pandya’s (87) batting exploits lifted Rohit’s India to 266 in 48.5 overs.
Afridi also removed Pandya and Ravindra Jadeja to emerge as the pick of the bowlers. The Pakistani pacer bagged four wickets and leaked 35 runs in 10 overs. After Pakistan bowled out India for 266 in 48.5 overs, rain forced a no result in the Asia Cup clash as points were shared in the first Indo-Pak encounter at Asia Cup 2023. Rohit’s Team India next play Asia Cup debutants Nepal in their final Group A fixture at the same venue on on Tuesday.
