Former Pakistani pacer Shoaib Akhtar opened up about the performance of Team India captain Rohit Sharma against the sensational pacer Shaheen Afridi in the ongoing Asia Cup 2023. Shaheen was sensational against the Indian batters last night during the clash between India and Pakistan in the Asia Cup.
Ishan Kishan and Hardik Pandya orchestrated a remarkable rescue job after Shaheen Afridi delivered a fiery spell up front, that resulted in India’s top-order collapse. Captain Rohit Sharma, who had looked positive before the first rain break, was dismissed by Shaheen Afridi in the fifth over of the game. This was the second time Shaheen had dismissed Rohit Sharma. In 2021, the Pakistan left-armer had bowled a similar delivery to dismiss him a leg-before wicket.
Shoaib Akhtar On Rohit Sharma’s Struggle Against Shaheen Afridi
Meanwhile, talking about Rohit Sharma’s struggles against Shaheen Afridi, Shoaib Akhtar wasn’t too pleased with the way Rohit was dismissed in the Asia Cup encounter. He insisted that the Indian captain could do much better.
Notably, Rohit played the aggressor role at the start of the innings with his fellow partner Shubman Gill, facing reasonable difficulty in tackling Shaheen and Naseem Shah. The rain-forced break, however, favored the Pakistan pace attack. Akhtar said:
“I don’t think Rohit is able to read or understand Shaheen at all. The visual of Rohit Sharma being beaten like this was not good, he is a far better player than this. Rohit can bat much better than this, I think he is worrying too much,”
Afridi dismissed Rohit Sharma (11), Virat Kohli (4), Hardik Pandya (87), and Ravindra Jadeja (14) in his 10-over spell.
Akhtar believes that the rain interruptions disturbed the concentration of the Indian batters, which eventually led to their dismissals in quick succession. He said:
“The constant interruptions by rain, leading to the players going off the ground and coming back in, it affects the focus of the batters. Gill lost his wicket exactly because of this reason, he lost his concentration, and that is why he played such a loose shot,”
Further, Shoaib Akhtar praised the exceptional bowling performance of Shaheen Afridi against Rohit Sharma, highlighting his ability to consistently pitch the ball full and bring it back to the right-handed batter. He said:
“What a spell it was by Shaheen Afridi, what a bowler he is. Everyone knows what he will do, pitch it full and bring it back in, and in spite that Rohit Sharma had no answer. But, what is Rohit Sharma supposed to do, in his defence he had last played him in 2022, he does not get the opportunity to face him too often,”
