Pakistan spearhead fast bowler Shaheen Afridi has issued a stern warning for the Indian team ahead of the Super 4 encounter in the ongoing Asia Cup 2023 between the two sides on Sunday in Colombo.
Shaheen Afridi rattled the Indian batters in their previous encounter, last week in Pallekele. The left-arm pacer took the first two wickets of captain Rohit Sharma and senior batsman Virat Kohli, both bowled, before returning to dismiss Hardik Pandya and Ravindra Jadeja.
On the eve of the match in Colombo, the 23-year-old fast bowler said that his best is yet to come, and he’d love for it to be against India.
“Every match against India is special and people watch this a lot. I used to wait for this match as a fan before I played under-16 cricket. I can’t say this has been my best spell (4/25 in Pallekele) so far. This is just the start and there will be many more, so the best is yet to come,” Shaheen Afridi said on Saturday.
Shaheen Afridi reveals success of Pakistani pace trio
The Pakistan pace attack comprising Shaheen Afridi, Haris Rauf, and Naseem Shah has been rocking up the Asia Cup 2023 so far. Haris Rauf is the leading wicket-taker at the moment with 9 wickets, followed by Shaheen and Naseem, both of whom have 7 wickets each. Rauf recently took a 4-fer against Bangladesh on a flat pitch in Lahore while Naseem has done well in the death overs as well.
Shaheen said that the trio understand each of their roles and communicate well with each other.
“If you play all the three formats at such a young age for Pakistan and handle the new ball, people expect you to perform like that. We know our roles with the new and old ball. Haris is quicker than us and impacts with his pace. Naseem and I try to get early breakthroughs. The communication is good between us and that’s our success,” Afridi added.
The Pakistan vs India encounter is under a massive threat of rain. The ACC has added Monday as the reserve day for this match. If the match is washed out, both teams will share a point each and Pakistan will come closer to reaching the final.
