Shaheen Afridi vs Rohit Sharma was a contest everyone had been waiting for in this IND vs PAK encounter in the World Cup 2023 in Ahmedabad.
Afridi had dismissed Rohit twice in his career – in the 2020 T20 World Cup and last month in the Asia Cup. However, Rohit had cracked plenty of runs against Shaheen right from their first meeting in 2018.
The left-arm angle swinging the ball into Rohit Sharma’s pads has been a concern among fans. But the India captain allayed those concerns in some style when he flicked Shaheen Afridi for a first-ball boundary in India’s chase of 192 runs at the Narendra Modi Stadium.
Having plundered a blazing century against Afghanistan, Rohit Sharma continued to play on his aggressive mood against Pakistan, too, cracking 86 runs in only 63 balls and walloping 6 fours and 6 sixes that entertained the 130,000-capacity crowd in the stadium. This included a four off Shaheen on the first ball of the innings, and then his trademark pull shot six to the left-arm fast bowler that stamped the India opener’s authority on the game.
From the other end, too, Shubman Gill, returning from dengue, drove beautifully Shaheen and Rauf for four boundaries in quick succession.
IND vs PAK: Ravi Shastri brutally trolls Shaheen Afridi
During his commentary stint, as India were cruising for a victory, Ravi Shastri trolled Shaheen Afridi hilariously. Shastri said that people go gaga over Shaheen’s new ball swing- but in reality, he said, though he can swing the ball, he is only decent, and not great yet.
Sitting near Shastri in the commentary box, Irfan Pathan had a burst of laughter at Shastri’s brutal trolling of Shaheen Afridi.
Watch the video here:
https://x.com/rightarmleftist/status/1713206556446318739?s=20
Talking about the match, Pakistan collapsed from 155/2 to 191 all-out, losing their last 8 wickets in only 36 runs. Jasprit Bumrah, who returned with brilliant figures of 2/19 in 7 overs, was named the Player of the Match. Hardik, Siraj, Jadeja, and Kuldeep, all took two wickets each.
After Rohit’s 86, Shreyas Iyer scored 53* as India completed the chase with 19.3 overs to spare, and jump to the top position in the points table.
