Pakistan pacer Shaheen Shah Afridi has rocked Team India early on in the Asia Cup 2023 match in Kandy as he dismissed their ace batters. The 23-year-old rearranged the stumps of both Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli in consecutive overs and went off in celebration in his trademark style. With that, Shaheen Afridi became the first bowler to dismiss both Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli 'bowled' in the same ODI innings.
Rohit's dismissal occurred only three balls after the two teams returned from a brief rain-induced break. 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.
With Naseem Shah coming in to bowl the next over, Kohli played an exquisite cover drive to open his account, signalling he is in the rhythm. 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.
Pakistan remain unchanged for key clash against India:
Meanwhile, the Men in Green have remain unchanged for the marquee clash and have picked the same playing XI that beat Nepal comprehensively. An injury cloud hung over Shaheen Shah Afridi; however, he was not only declared fit to play but has also picked up two key scalps.
The No. 1 ODI team opened their Asia Cup 2023 campaign with a comprehensive 238-run win over Nepal. Babar Azam led from the front with a captain's knock, hitting 151 off 131 deliveries and sharing a 214-run stand with Iftikhar Ahmed to propel Pakistan to 342 in 50 overs.
