Former Pakistan pace bowler Shoaib Akhtar feels that Team India skipper Rohit Sharma struggled a lot to read Shaheen Afridi with the new ball. Rohit was castled by Afridi with a ball that came after a rain-induced break at the Pallekele International Stadium on Saturday. And, he was dismissed by the left-arm pacer’s inswinging yorker when they met at the 2021 T20 World Cup. Rohit already has a dodgy record against left-arm seamers, and Afridi is one of them as well.

While talking about Rohit Sharma’s woes against Afridi, Akhtar said on his YouTube channel: “I don’t think Rohit is able to read or understand Shaheen at all. The visual of Rohit Sharma being beaten like this was not good, he is a far better player than this. Rohit can bat much better than this, I think he is worrying too much. The constant interruptions by rain, leading to the players going off the ground and coming back in, it affects the focus of the batters. Gill lost his wicket exactly because of this reason, he lost his concentration, and that is why he played such a loose shot.”

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However, Shubman Gill struggled for rhythm right from the beginning and needed 11 deliveries to get off the mark. He was bowled by Haris Rauf in the 15th over after scoring 10 runs off 32 balls as well. And, he applauded Shaheen’s spell as well.

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“What a spell it was by Shaheen Afridi, what a bowler he is. Everyone knows what he will do, pitch it full and bring it back in, and in spite that Rohit Sharma had no answer. Buthwhat is Rohit Sharma supposed to do, in his defense he had last played him in 2022, he does not get the opportunity to face him too often,” Shoaib Akhtar concluded.