India vs Pakistan: How Indian batters are preparing for Shaheen Afridi ahead of Asia Cup 2023 match

Shaheen Afridi blew away India in their opening game of Asia Cup 2023 with a four-wicket haul as the Men in Blue were dismissed for 266. The rain resulted in the match being called off but had the Pakistan chase taken place, India would have struggled to defend 266.

Left-arm fast bowler Afridi who can swing the ball both ways has always proved to be a big challenge for India. In two ODIs so far against India, he has four wickets at an average of 19.25. He also has three wickets in two T20Is against Men in Blue at an average of 21.66.

In the 2021 T20 World Cup, Afridi broke the back of India’s batting by dismissing KL Rahul, Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli as India lost their first World Cup game to Pakistan.

In the Asia Cup 2023 group game, he cleaned up Rohit and Kohli early to put India in a spot of bother before removing Hardik Pandya and Ravindra Jadeja.

Not only Afridi, but other left-arm pacers have also proved to be a bane for India.

Mohammad Amir ran through India’s top-order consisting of Shikhar Dhawan, Rohit and Kohli as India lost the 2017 Champions Trophy final. In the 2019 World Cup semi-finals, Trent Boult got the crucial wicket of Kohli as India were knocked out.

With the World Cup coming and India playing Pakistan again in the Asia Cup Super Four on Sunday, it’s important that Indian batters try and improve their game against left-arm pacers. An effort was made by them on Thursday in Colombo as they trained long and hard.

As per a report in the Indian Express, Shubamn Gill, Shreyas Iyer and KL Rahul, who is back with the team after clearing the fitness test, sweat it out at the Gamini Dissanayaka Indoor facility. Rohit and Kohli however opted out of the training session.

The batters faced the team’s throwdown specialist and Sri Lankan Nuwan Seneviratne in the nets who used a slinging tool to create inswing and outswing on his throws. The whole session was recorded by data analyst Hari Prasad Mohan.

The idea was to practice against Afridi-type bowling and later analyse through videos where the batters are falling short in their positioning and foot movement.

To not build pressure on them, coach Rahul Dravid and batting coach Vikram Rathour reportedly stayed away from the nets.

Gill and Iyer largely practiced against fuller deliveries while No 5 Rahul was up against stumpt-to-stump balls.

Come Sunday we will know how much the practice worked for these batters.

Meanwhile, it has been reported that a reserve day has been added to the India vs Pakistan game, the only Super Four match to have it as there’s a forecast fo rain in Colombo.