Asia Cup: Shoaib Akhtar says India skipper Rohit Sharma 'worrying too much' while facing Shaheen Afridi
Rohit Sharma after being bowled by Afridi (Source: X/@TheRealPCB)
Former Pakistan fast bowler Shoaib Akhtar thinks that India skipper Rohit Sharma is 'worrying too much' while playing against Shaheen Afridi and that he's a far better player. Notably, Afridi had castled Sharma masterfully during the India vs Pakistan Asia Cup 2023 tie on Saturday, September 2 in Kandy, Sri Lanka.
Rohit, who was the first wicket to fall for India, was bowled through his defence by the Pak left-arm pacer. Shaheen had bowled previous two balls outside off to Rohit but brought the final ball of innings' fifth over into the batsman, uprooting Rohit's stumps. The India skipper scored only 11 off 22 balls before going back to pavilion.
Speaking on Afridi's spell, Akhtar remarked, "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 of 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."
Also Read: Former Pakistan PM Shehbaz Sharif takes a SWIPE at Indian batters after Shaheen Afridi's wickets
“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,” he added. The former Pak speedster made the comments on his YouTube channel.
Afridi, in his next over, took out India's star batsman Virat Kohli as well. Kohli tried to play the ball towards third man for a single but the ball took an inside edge and hit the stumps, sending Pak fans in frenzy. Kohli could score only seven off four balls before getting out. Afridi came back again in 44th over and took two more wickets - in one over - sending back Hardik Pandya and Ravindra Jadeja.
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India eventually finished their innings for 266 in 48.5 overs but rain played spoilsport and the chase couldn't take place and the match was abandoned.
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