Asia Cup 2022: India vs Pakistan: Ever since news rolled out regarding the unavailability of Shaheen Afridi for Asia Cup due to knee injury, there has been a lot of chatters. The former captain of Pakistan Waqar Younis believes that Shaheen missing the tournament is a big injury relief for the Indian batters in the top order. He primarily refers to the Indian openers KL Rahul and Rohit Sharma. Follow Asia Cup live updates with InsideSport.IN
In fact, Shaheen is a big miss for Pakistan, who depend on his early burst with the new ball to bag wickets. With the Men in Green also opening their Asia Cup campaign against India, the miss looks even more bigger.
When the two teams met in the last T20 match in the T20 World Cup 2021, Shaheen ripped apart the Indian top order. He dismissed KL Rahul for three and Rohit for a duck. It just showed the weakness of Indian openers against the moving ball.
It is also in the same context that Waqar Younis came up with the tweet, stating it is a relief for Indian top order.
Shaheen’s injury Big relief for the Indian top order batsmen. Sad we won’t be seeing him in #AsiaCup2022 Get fit soon Champ @iShaheenAfridi pic.twitter.com/Fosph7yVHs
— Waqar Younis (@waqyounis99) August 20, 2022
The two players might not have known much about Shaheen then. But by that special bowling effort of his, he introduced himself to Indian fans, who were bewildered.
The champion bowler from Pakistan has gone on to become one of the best new ball bowlers in world cricket. His ability to move the ball and catch batters in the crease has helped him take a number of wickets. However, that scene is not going to be present in Asia Cup 2022.
India vs Pakistan magnitude remains same
Shaheen might be missed, but Pakistan are still a formidable side in the upcoming Asia Cup, which starts on August 27. Alongside India, they are one of the favourites to life the Asia Cup in UAE.
His absence also does not lessen the magnitude of the India vs Pakistan encounter, which has already reached fever pitch. The tickets for the clash were sold out in hours, and there is a buzz among the fans across both sides of the border.
Even if Shaheen might not be present in the squad, India batters cannot take it easy against Pakistan, who will give it their all to win the contest.
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