It’s going to be an exhilarating scene in Kandy when the stars of Team India take on Babar Azam’s men in green on Saturday. Rohit Sharma & Co will begin their Asia Cup 2023 campaign against the arch-rivals which is also their first meet-up in the fifty-over format since the 2019 World Cup. The contest will be a challenging one for India as they face highly-confident Pakistan; the team that has been on a winning spree lately.
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Babar Azam & Co thrashed Afghanistan 3-0 in a bilateral ODI series last week, before hammering Nepal by 238 runs in the Asia Cup opener on Wednesday in Multan. Going forward, the hosts have named an unchanged XI to deal with India in their next game. The interesting aspect of the upcoming clash at the Pallekele stadium will be the match-up between left-arm pacer Shaheen Shah Afridi and the Indian top-order.
The Pakistan pacer has posed a significant threat to the Indian batters in the past couple of years and the scenario will be no different on Saturday. The star-studded Indian batting line-up will be tested against Pakistan’s formidable pace attack but ahead of the high-octane clash, former India opener Gautam Gambhir had a message for openers Rohit Sharma and Shubman Gill.
Speaking on Star Sports show ‘Game Plan’, Gambhir urged Rohit and Gill to adopt a positive approach, instead of being conservative.
“Rohit Sharma and Shubman Gill, your approach has to be clear against Shaheen Afridi and Naseem Shah. Look at scoring runs, not surviving. When you score runs, you are in better rhythm and have better backlift and footwork,” Gambhir said on Star Sports’ Game Plan.
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“Often, people talk about Shaheen and Naseem troubling the Indian batters in the World Cup. But it’s all in the past now. ODI is a different format, batters have time to settle into the crease. It’s important to bat in positions where if you get a half-volley, you look to hit it, not just survive. The more positive you are, the more you create pressure. Keep it simple, the past is in the past. It’s a new day, new match, a different format. Be in attacking mode,” he added.
Earlier on Friday, Rohit addressed a pre-match press conference where he spoke about how the Indian batters will tackle the fiery Pakistan trio of Shaheen, Rauf and Shah.
“We don’t have Shaheen, Naseem and Rauf in the nets. We practice with what we have/ All three are quality bowlers. Pakistan always had quality bowlers. We have seen their strengths and weaknesses. Will use our experience vs them,” said Rohit.
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