Pakistan pace spearhead Shaheen Shah Afridi has shed light on how he managed to dismiss India's ace batters on Saturday in their Asia Cup 2023 match in Kandy. The left-arm pacer revealed that Hardik Pandya's wicket was critical in the context of the situation and that Pakistan are happy with their performance.
After India's top-order collapse, Hardik Pandya and Ishan Kishan stitched a 138-run partnership to put India on track for a formidable total. It was Haris Rauf, who broke that partnership, while Shaheen returned to deny Pandya a well-deserved 100 by getting him on 87 in the 44th over of the innings. He eventually finished with figures of 10-2-35-4.
Speaking in a video uploaded by PCB on Instagram, Shaheen felt Pakistan did their best to give themselves a chance and was happy to get India's two ace batters' wickets
"After the big partnership, Hardik Pandya’s wicket was very crucial at that time. Had the match happened, the result was in our hands, but we can’t do anything about the weather. Overall, our performance was good. I tried my best to give the team breakthroughs with the new ball and I managed to get two main wickets."
"He is the backbone of the Indian team" - Shaheen Shah Afridi on Virat Kohli
The 23-year-old further claimed that Virat Kohli could have taken the game away from Pakistan if he was set as they struggled to get assistance with the old ball. He added:
"Virat Kohli is a great player given the runs he has scored. He has scored a lot of runs against Pakistan. It was a crucial wicket for us. We weren’t getting help with the old ball and had Kohli been set, then he would have made it tough for us. He is the backbone of the Indian team."
With rain forcing a washout, Pakistan qualified for the Super 4 stage, but India face a must-win situation against Nepal.
