A furore erupted on social media between India and Pakistan fans on Sunday, five days out from the Asia Cup encounter between the two arch-rivals, on a reported quote said by Ajit Agarkar, the chairman of India’s selection committee, regarding Virat Kohli and the Pakistani pace duo of Shaheen Afridi and Haris Rauf.
Even Pakistan all-rounder Shadab Khan has responded to the rumored quote from Ajit Agarkar and this has been the talking point among fans this weekend.
Virat Kohli will be facing the likes of Shaheen Afridi, Haris Rauf, and Naseem Shah in the upcoming Asia Cup 2023, and then in the World Cup 2023 as well. It’s going to be a tightly contested battle between the Indian batting superstar against the deadly Pakistani pace attack. The troika recently blew away the Afghanistan batting order, sweeping up the series 3-0, and sending a strong message across the border ahead of the Asia Cup 2023.
Ahead of their mouth-watering clash, a quote from Ajit Agarkar has gone viral, which even reached Shadab Khan who responded with confidence.
A week ago, Ajit Agarkar announced Team India’s squad for the Asia Cup in a press conference where the journalists asked a number of questions regarding the team and the Asia Cup.
According to the news going viral on Twitter, Agarkar was asked how will Indian batters tackle Shaheen Afridi and Haris Rauf. Ajit Agarkar reportedly said: “Virat Kohli will take care of them”.
Did Ajit Agarkar really say Kohli will ‘take care’ of Shaheen and Rauf?
No, the news circulating about Agarkar’s comments that Virat Kohli will “take care” of Shaheen and Rauf is fake. Such a question was not asked in the press conference, and Agarkar is professional enough to not give such a childish, fan-like response.
A reporter, however, considered this reply to Agarkar to be true and passed it on to Shadab Khan after his series against Afghanistan. Being led to believe the reporter’s fake news, Shadab replied:
“It depends on a particular day, probably. Now, someone from India or me can make any claim, but those are just words. Anybody can say anything and that doesn’t change or affect anything. When we will have the match, then we might see what goes on.”
