In anticipation of the highly awaited Asia Cup clash between traditional rivals India and Pakistan, former cricketer Mohammad Kaif offered some valuable tips on how the Indian team can effectively counter Pakistan’s star fast bowler, Shaheen Afridi, and his formidable pace and swinging deliveries.
Mohammad Kaif emphasized the importance of the opening overs and keeping a calm mindset during the beginning portions of the game.
“You can practice all you want but on the day of the match, that experience of seeing Shaheen Afridi take his ball, do his swing, and his speed, cannot be recreated in practice. It is good to practice, of course, but that same impression cannot be made. You still need to make the effort, and try to figure out the technique but Shaheen Afridi throwing the ball, walking or running the distance can not be done at practice” Kaif told Disney+ Hotstar.
Kaif underlined that India has had early hurdles in their matches against Pakistan, frequently losing important wickets during the initial overs. He stressed out the significance of the top-order batsmen exercising caution, especially while facing the pace sensation famed for his ability to swing the ball and steal early wickets.
“Whenever India has lost it was in the first few overs after KL Rahul or Rohit Sharma got out. But I believe if they survive the 3rd or 4th over without losing a wicket, then the match is going to change. After that, you have a strong India team with Shreyas Iyer, Hardik Pandya, and Ravindra Jadeja, who can finish well. The main role is the 3 overs as the bowl swings more, the team needs to tackle that. That’s their big challenge for the openers and Virat Kohli,” Mohammad Kaif said.
As the day of the India-Pakistan encounter on September 2 approaches, Kaif provided a hint that the forthcoming match will likely focus on a confrontation between Virat Kohli and Babar Azam.
“Virat Kohli is an in-form batsman and the two great batsmen will be seen facing each other. It is a best vs best where 57 is the batting average of Virat Kohli, and 59 is of Babar Azam. Oh god! Babar Azam has surpassed Kohli, so this is going to be a big match on September 2.”
“If we analyze, there 94 is of Virat and 89 of Babar. In terms of centuries, as far as I know, Virat has 46 to his name and Babar has 19. However, Babar has played fewer matches and Virat has played more, but he has 46 centuries there!” Kaif concluded.
