Team India fans haven't spared India's top-order batters for collapsing against Pakistan's relentless pace-bowling unit in their Asia Cup 2023 game in Kandy. Left-arm pacer Shaheen Shah Afridi left them gasping for breath as he cleaned up Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma in consecutive overs and set off in his trademark celebration style.
Rohit's dismissal occurred only three balls after the two teams returned from a brief rain-induced break, the first of which that occurred in the innings. Shaheen set Rohit up with two outswingers and brought one back in as the ball went through the right-hander, leaving him shell-shocked and forcing him to walk back for 11.
With Naseem Shah coming in to bowl the next over, Kohli played an exquisite cover drive to open his account, signaling he is in the rhythm and in for a big knock. Skipper Babar Azam decided to bring Shaheen on for one more over and the youngster did the trick as Kohli played with an angled bat, trying to run down into the third man region for a single. The ball took the inside-edge, hit the pad and went on to the stumps and the former Indian captain strode out of the pitch for 4.
Haris Rauf picks up two wickets as well:
Meanwhile, Haris Rauf struggled initially, but his short-ball trick worked against Shreyas Iyer, who mistimed a pull to deep mid-wicket. The right-arm speedster came on to bowl and castled Shubman Gill just shortly after another rain-induced break. Gill tried to defend, but the ball seamed away to take the inside edge and onto the stumps.
While Iyer made 14, Gill only made 10 despite facing over 30 deliveries.
Here's how fans have blasted Team India's batters over social media:
