Gautam Gambhir has given his mantra for the Indian batters to face Shaheen Afridi in the upcoming T20 World Cup game against Pakistan.
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India will start their T20 World Cup 2022 campaign against Pakistan at the Melbourne Cricket Ground on 23 October 2022. This is a high-octane match, and both sides would want to start their tournament with a win.
India had a disappointing T20 World Cup last year, and they faced Pakistan in the first match of the last tournament as well, where Pakistan defeated India by 10 wickets. India’s problem against left-arm pacers is known to the entire world, and Shaheen Afridi again proved that last year in Dubai.
Afridi just ripped apart the top order of the Indian side last year, where he got the wickets of Rohit Sharma, KL Rahul and Virat Kohli. He would want to do the same in Melbourne as well.
Gautam Gambhir advises Indian batters around facing Shaheen Afridi
Former Indian opener Gautam Gambhir has advised the Indian batters on how to play Shaheen Afridi in the upcoming T20 World Cup game against Pakistan at the MCG. Gambhir said that the batters should look to score runs instead of just surviving in order to be successful against Shaheen Afridi.
Gambhir insists that Afridi will be dangerous with the new ball, and you cannot just look to survive in the T20 format. He also asked the Indian batters to try to time the ball instead of smashing it as it will allow them to get into better positions.
“When it comes to Shaheen Afridi, don’t look to survive. Look to score runs from him because the moment you look to survive, everything becomes really small,” Gambhir said while speaking on Star Sports show Game Plan.
“Whether it’s your backlift, whether it’s your footwork, and obviously, in T20 cricket you can’t look to survive. I know that he can be dangerous with the new ball, but again, irrespective, the Indian batters need to score more runs, get into better positions, and look to time the balls rather than to hit it.”
Afridi is nursing a knee injury that forced him out of the Asia Cup 2022. However, recently Ramiz Raja said that Afridi will be fully fit ahead of the 1st match of the T20 World Cup against India.
