“If he would have played…”: KL Rahul reckons Shaheen Afridi’s presence would have been a good experience for Indian batters during Asia Cup 2022

KL Rahul reckons Shaheen Afridi’s presence would have mattered for the Indian team as has been the case with left-arm pacers lately.

India’s wicket-keeper batter KL Rahul did not rule out the highly likely Shaheen Shah Afridi threat, as team India are set to take on Pakistan in their opening match of the Asia Cup 2022 on August 28, at the Dubai International Stadium.

Pakistan fans were handed a huge blow last week when their 22-year-old champion fast bowler was rule out due to a right knee ligament injury, which he had picked up during the first Test of Pakistan’s tour of Sri Lanka last month.

While some Cricket experts blame the Pakistani skipper and the team management for their careless approach in handling Afridi’s injury, the current crop of players do believe that the other pacers in their squad are match-winners as well, and can take on any side in the tournament.

As for the Indian side, questions were also raised on KL Rahul’s inclusion in the team’s squad for the Asia Cup, while star batter Virat Kohli is set to garner the maximum spotlights during the high-octane clash between the arch-rivals, for not the positive of reasons.

KL Rahul reckons Shaheen Afridi’s presence would have mattered

Pakistan fans and some of the former cricketers have explicitly expressed their fear regarding the absence of a left-arm pacer in their team squad, as they have proved to be a cause of worry, especially for the Indian top-order during the recent T20I bilateral series against West Indies and England.

Without beating around the bush or shying away from expressing his vulnerability on the same, KL Rahul did admit that the left-arm seamers around the world are indeed causing troubles for the batters, and that it would have been a great experience for his team to take on someone of the caliber of Shaheen Afridi, who is unarguably one of the best at the moment in International Cricket.

“Shaheen Shah Afridi is a world-class bowler, he is a quality bowler. Left-arm seamers right now in world cricket are the most dangerous and they are causing problems for batters. If he would have played, it would have been a good experience for us. Unfortunately, he is injured,” Rahul said while addressing a press conference on Friday.

Both Rahul and Afridi were seen conversing with each other a day before, while the former was heading towards the practice session in Dubai.

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