'It wasn't my best spell...': Shaheen Afridi's unflinching statement on castling Rohit, Kohli ahead of IND vs PAK match

The Pakistan pacer dropped a rather ominous warning for Indian batters ahead of the Super 4 game, as he recalled his 4/35 figures in the group match vs India.

Team India will meet Pakistan in a blockbuster encounter in the Super 4 stage of the 2023 Asia Cup on Sunday. Both sides had earlier met in the group stage, but the clash yielded no result as rain washed out the entire second innings in Pallekele. The Pakistan pacers did wreak havoc on the Indian top-order during the initial stages of the Indian innings before Hardik Pandya (87) and Ishan Kishan (82) bailed the side out of trouble, steering the total to 266. Shaheen Afridi, the star Pakistan pacer, was the pick of the bowlers with brillant 4/35 figures.

Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli were dismissed by Shaheen Afridi in the bowler's opening spell (AP)

Shaheen picked the crucial wickets of captain Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli, castling them in successive overs to put India on instant backfoot. The left-arm pacer has been a cause of concern for India since 2021, when he played a crucial role in Pakistan's 10-wicket win in the T20 World Cup; in that match, Shaheen had dismissed Rohit on a first-ball duck, and also struck Kohli and KL Rahul out to register 3/31 figures.

Since then, Shaheen is considered as one of the most dangerous bowlers for te Indian top-order; his ability to bring the ball back into the right hander with fierce pace makes him a tough customer. In the Asia Cup encounter last week, Shaheen had also troubled Shubman Gill, who looked at sea with the sheer pace and swing under typically overcast weather in Pallekele. However, the Pakistan speedster believes that it wasn't his “best” spell and there's “many more” to come.

“Every match against India is special and people watch it a lot. I used to wait for this match as a fan before I played under-16 cricket. I can’t say this (4/35) has been my best spell so far. This is just the start and there will be many more, so the best is yet to come,” Shaheen told AFP.

“If you play all the three formats at such a young age for Pakistan and handle the new ball, people expect you to perform like that. We know our roles with the new and old ball. Haris is quicker than us and impacts with his pace. Naseem and I try to get early breakthroughs. Communication is good between us and that’s our success,” he added.

Preparations for World Cup

Shaheen stated that he remains in contact with many international players who play in the Indian Premier League, insisting that he has an idea about the surface conditions in India. Pakistan will play their World Cup matches in five cities across the country – Hyderabad, Chennai, Ahmedabad, Bengaluru and Kolkata. Each of them has an IPL franchise and hosts regular matches in the league.

“All the foreign players who have played in the IPL, we had discussions with them. Spinners will get more help, maybe. We will hit good lengths. Our team performance is going well as the number one (ODI) team. We have prepared well,” said Afridi.