Team India iffy at the top

Updated On: 04 September, 2023 07:13 AM IST | Kandy | Santosh Suri

Pakistan pacer Shaheen Afridi’s 4-35 on Saturday proved once again that Rohit Sharma & Co are suspect against top-class pace and need to fix their issues if they are eyeing glory at the Asia Cup followed by the World Cup

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Rohit Sharma (left) and Virat Kohli are clean bowled by Shaheen Shah Afridi on Saturday. Pics/AFP, AP;PTI

Left-arm pacers have always been a bugbear for India’s top-order batters. Across generations, whenever Indian batters are up against a top-class left-arm fast bowler, the going gets tough. It was no different when the Indian top-order was up against Pakistan pacer Shaheen Afridi in the Asia Cup on Saturday. No doubt the overcast conditions did help Afridi, but he has been a handful even in a desert venue like Dubai, where he has not only troubled, but also dismissed the likes of Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli. Such blows set the team back big time as we have seen India losing to Pakistan in crucial games lately.

Problem v left-arm pacers

At the media interaction before the Pakistan game, Rohit was asked how the team planned to prepare for the top-class bowling unit that Pakistan possess. Sharma replied tongue-in-cheek: “Yes, we do not have Shaheen Afridi and Waseem Hasan in our team. Thus, we have to practice against the bowlers that are in our team.” This statement is quite a giveaway as all the pace bowlers in the Indian team are right-handed, be it Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Shami, Mohammed Siraj, Shardul Thakur or Prasidh Krishna. On the other hand, we have three left-arm spinners—Ravindra Jadeja, Axar Patel and Kuldeep Yadav.

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