Ahead of the Super 4s tie between India and Pakistan on September 10 in the ongoing Asia Cup 2023, former Pakistani pacer Shoaib Akhtar has taken a jibe at India captain Rohit Sharma for his recent failure against Shaheen Afridi in the group-stage encounter.
India and Pakistan had clashed in Pallekele and while Shaheen didn’t start well with the new ball, he came back strong after a short rain break and set up Rohit Sharma well with some outswingers and then clean-bowled him with one that came back in.
Rohit was dismissed on the very first delivery he faced against Shaheen in the 2021 T20 World Cup, and has struggled against Pakistan in the four T20I encounters since his 140 against the side in the 2019 World Cup.
Former Pakistan speedster Shoaib Akhtar, however, expressed his surprise at Rohit's gameplan against Shaheen, pointing out that Shaheen has instilled fear in Rohit's mind.
"Yeh Rohit Sharma woh Rohit Sharma hai hi nahi. Yeh uska stunt double hai. Shaheen uske dimaag mein baith gaya hai. (This is not the same Rohit Sharma. This one's a stunt double. Shaheen has conquered his mind).
I have never seen him change his stance, but what was happening there? Stance changed kara, beat hua, bowled hua (He changed his stance and got bowled). Shaheen is subconsciously in his mind. This is what pressure of IND vs. PAK match does to players,” Shoaib Akhtar said on Star Sports.
Shaheen had picked 4/35, reducing India to 66/4 before half-centuries from Ishan Kishan and Hardik Pandya rescued them and took them to 266.
