Asia Cup 2023: Rohit Sharma and Shubman Gill taking on Shaheen Afridi will worry Pakistan, says Dinesh Karthik

India’s veteran wicket-keeper bat Dinesh Karthik feels Rohit Sharma and Shubman Gill taking on Shaheen Shah Afridi will worry Pakistan. Rohit and Gill took on the attack against the lanky pacer in his opening spell at the R. Premadasa Stadium, Colombo on Sunday in the ongoing Asia Cup.

Afridi was off the mark and India’s opening duo punished him on the loose deliveries. Rohit and Gill added 61 runs in the first 10 overs as they made the most of the field restriction conditions.

In fact, Naseem Shah was right on the money in the opening spell as he challenged Rohit Sharma’s outside edge on numerous occasions but didn’t get the support from the other end. Rohit and Gill scored 56 and 58 runs respectively and added 121 runs for the opening alliance.

“The way Rohit Sharma and Shubman Gill batted vs Shaheen Afridi, will worry Pakistan. I think the conditions suited fast bowling at the start of the innings, but India called the shots,” Karthik said on Cricbuzz.

Meanwhile, Shaheen Shah Afridi made a better comeback in his second spell, bamboozling Shubman Gill with a slower ball. Earlier in the group stage match, Afridi had flummoxed a well-settled Hardik Pandya with change in pace.

“It becomes tough as a batter to pick Shaheen Afridi’s slower delivery because of his wrist flick. Second time Shaheen Shah Afridi has deceived an Indian batter,” Karthik further added.

On the other hand, former Pakistan skipper Waqar Younis said Afridi looked off-colour on Sunday and he will need to come back stronger as there was help in the surface.

“Shaheen was totally off colour with the new ball. Nobody in the Pakistan team line-up tried to bowl the short ball and the bouncers. The swing as there – Naseem showed it from the other end. If you bowl in the right areas, you will trouble the batters. But Shaheen has to think hard, even in the previous match, although he bowled a brilliant 10 overs, he was off colour and tried too hard today and gave away easy boundaries,” Waqar Younis said during the rain interruption on Star Sports.

India will resume the match at 147-2 after 24.1 overs on Monday (reserve day) with Virat Kohli and KL Rahul unbeaten at the crease.