Asia Cup 2023: Former cricketer highlights key battle on reserve day, Virat vs Shaheen to attract attention

Former India batter Mohammed Kaif has highlighted a key battle on the reserve day as Team India take guards at the R Premadasa Stadium in Colombo against Pakistan. The India vs Pakistan clash which was shifted to the reserved day of Monday, September 11 will see pacer Shaheen Shah Afridi against Virat Kohli with the duo in excellent touch. According to Kaif, the contest will be the highlight reel of the day as Virat and Shaheen look to provide an early advantage to their team on the reserve day.

Virat vs Shaheen to take centrestage

"Shaheen will continue to bring the ball in, bowling his inswing. He has told himself that his game plan is very simple, bring the ball in and fast, Whatever the batsman wants to do let him, his game plan is straightforward - bring the ball in, hit the pad, and hit the stumps. So it will be exciting to see Virat Kohli in the form he is in to take him on; it is the most key matchup of the game,” Kaif said while in conversation on Star Sports.

What happened in Group Stage

In the group stage encounter, Shaheen got the better of the former India captain as Virat was dismissed on 4, leaving the record continental champions in a vulnerable situation. The 34-year-old will have a score to settle with Shaheen when they meet on Monday as India will resume at 147/2. Rain played spoilsport in the contest for the second time in a week as the match needed to be moved to a controversial reserve day.

India had an excellent start to their innings as captain Rohit Sharma and Shubman Gill stitched an opening stand of 121 runs. They attacked Shaheen with full throttle before rain halted play in Colombo. Rohit scored 56 while Gill departed for 58 as veteran stars KL Rahul and Virat took to the field. As things stand, Virat is batting on 8 off 16 while Rahul is batting on 17 off 28.

If the match gets washed out on Monday, both teams will get one point a piece while making it a must-win contest for India against Sri Lanka. India will play Sri Lanka on Tuesday with no rest day, which could be a big spanner in the work for India’s preparations.

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