Less than 24 hours are to go for the mega-clash between India and Pakistan, to be held at the iconic MCG on Sunday as both the teams kick off their Super 12 round in T20 World Cup 2022.
Leading into this high-voltage encounter, every Indian fan has only one question on their mind: How will the Indian batters tackle the threat of Shaheen Afridi?
The Indian openers, Rohit Sharma and KL Rahul had no answers to that question when the two sides met last year in Dubai during T20 World Cup 2021: Shaheen had Rohit Sharma lbw in the first over, and in his second, he went through the defenses of KL Rahul. In his returning spell later in the innings, he also dismissed the then-India captain Virat Kohli after he’d been looking ominous having scored a fifty.
Man of the Match Shaheen’s spectacular three-for ensured India posted a below-par total of 151 which Pakistan chased down comfortably with all 10 wickets in hand.
India still doesn’t seem to have worked their way around tacking left-arm pacers, as shown by the performances of the likes of Reece Topley, David Willey and Obed McCoy in matches earlier this year.
Sachin Tendulkar suggests Indian openers be careful with their trigger movement
Legendary Indian batsman Sachin Tendulkar has said his advice on the question of how the Indian batters can survive Shaheen Afridi’s opening new-ball burst.
The batting great reckoned the Indian opener should play with a straight bat as much as possible whenever Shaheen would pitch it up looking for movement.
“Shaheen is an attacking bowler and he likes to go for wickets. He pitches the ball up and backs himself to swing the ball. He has the capability to beat the batters in the air and off the pitch with his pace upfront. So with him, strategy should be to play straight and within the ‘V’,” Tendulkar told PTI.
Further speaking about mental adjustments that Indian batters should be wary of, Tendulkar said the batsmen shouldn’t commit themselves to a shot in their trigger movement and wait for the length and then decide whether to play on the front foot or the back foot.
“Trigger movement is a preparation to play the ball and not commitment, if you are not committing to play the ball, it could be either on front-foot or backfoot, but it is a trigger movement and not commitment.
“Because once you are committed on backfoot, you can’t come on the front-foot and vice versa. Trigger movement is about preparation. Every ball, there is some kind of movement, as long as that is not commitment it is fine,” he added.
