India and Pakistan will meet in an electrifying Sunday night (August 28) clash in the men's Asia Cup 2022. Both teams will be renewing their rivalry for the first time this year, having last met in the T20 World Cup in 2021 where Babar Azam's side had cruised to a 10-wicket win. However, Pakistan had faced a massive setback ahead of the Asia Cup this year as one of the side's leading pacers, Shaheen Afridi was ruled out with a knee injury.
Afridi faced the injury during the first Test of the series against Sri Lanka last month and even as he travelled with the side on their tour to the Netherlands, Afridi eventually failed to recover in time for the coveted continental tournament.
On Friday, however, a video posted by Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) had went viral when a number of Indian cricketers including Yuzvendra Chahal, Virat Kohli, Rishabh Pant, and KL Rahul interacted with Afridi, enquiring about his injury status and wishing him luck for his recovery. Following the heartwarming interaction, Rahul revealed the chat with Afridi in a press conference ahead of the blockbuster clash.
“As players, we have always battled injuries. For 2-3 months, I myself have been in the academy (NCA). It is a very frustrating time as a player the pain you go through, the frustration of missing games. Even he would have wanted to play this India-Pakistan game. You share a little bit of concern and experience. There was nothing more to it," Rahul said as he talked about his chat with Afridi.
{{/usCountry}}“As players, we have always battled injuries. For 2-3 months, I myself have been in the academy (NCA). It is a very frustrating time as a player the pain you go through, the frustration of missing games. Even he would have wanted to play this India-Pakistan game. You share a little bit of concern and experience. There was nothing more to it," Rahul said as he talked about his chat with Afridi.
{{/usCountry}}The Indian vice-captain also said that he would have liked to face the Pakistan left-arm pacer in the upcoming game.
“Our mindset was that we play a quality bowler. I’ve seen how Shaheen Shah Afridi has performed in the last two years. He is a world-class bowler, he is a quality bowler. Left-arm seamers right now in world cricket are the most dangerous and they are causing problems for batters.
"If he would have played, it would have been a good experience for us. Unfortunately, he is injured,” said Rahul.