Rohit Sharma has had his struggles against Shaheen Shah Afridi but on Sunday, the Indian skipper looked completely at ease against the Pakistan fast bowler's first spell in the ongoing Super 4 match of the Asia Cup 2023 in Colombo.
Rohit played five dot balls against Afridi before depositing the sixth ball into the stands to get his team off the mark in style.
Rohit therefore, became the first batter in world cricket to hit Shaheen Afridi for a six in the first over of an ODI match.
Afridi pitched the ball full on leg-stump which Rohit just flicked away for the maximum result.
Both Indian openers in fact, have gotten off to a solid start against the Pakistani fast bowlers after Babar Azam won the toss and opted to bowl first under overcast conditions at the R Premadasa Stadium.
India's rapid start in Colombo
India have raced to 53 for no loss in 9 overs with Rohit scoring 10 off 24 while Shubman Gill has already made 41 off 30 balls.
Pakistan are playing an unchanged side while India made two changes to the playing XI.
In a forced change, batter KL Rahul returned to the Indian team after a long injury layoff in place of Shreyas Iyer, who is down with back spasm, while Jasprit Bumrah is back to lead the pace attack. He replaced Mohammed Shami.
IND vs PAK, Teams:
India: Rohit Sharma (capt), Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, KL Rahul, Ishan Kishan (wk), Hardik Pandya, Ravindra Jadeja, Shardul Thakur, Kuldeep Yadav, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Siraj.
Pakistan: Fakhar Zaman, Imam-ul-Haq, Babar Azam (capt), Mohammad Rizwan (wk), Agha Salman, Iftikhar Ahmed, Shadab Khan, Faheem Ashraf, Shaheen Afridi, Naseem Shah, Haris Rauf.
