While the fans are praying that the rain gods in Australia stay away from Melbourne on Sunday, Indian skipper Rohit Sharma is gearing up for his titanic battle against Pakistan’s fiery pacer, Shaheen Afridi. The duo is set to come face to face when India renews their intense rivalry against Pakistan at the MCG on the 23rd of October. The Indian skipper was seen adopting a distinct technique against throw-downs by a left-armer during the optional practice session in Melbourne.
India’s much-awaited clash against arch-rivals Pakistan has been surrounded by doubt amidst heavy rainfall forecasted for the day. But the Indian skipper is practicing hard to rectify his weakness against left-arm seamers, especially at the start of his innings. The flamboyant opener fell to Shaheen Afridi’s vicious delivery in last year’s epic clash.
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Rohit Sharma, who is renowned for his flat-batted strokes, refrained from any horizontal shots and tried to play in the ‘V’ as much as possible while facing throwdowns from a left-armer during India’s optional practice session at the MCG. Sharma was sent back to the pavilion for a golden duck by Afridi in their last meeting in the tournament in 2021.
Here is the video of Rohit Sharma’s practice:
Net prectice at Melbourne ♥️🇮🇳@ImRo45 pic.twitter.com/Q7nK6ymhv5
— J A G D E E S H🇮🇳 (@jagdish_ro45) October 21, 2022
Meanwhile, Shaheen Afridi, who missed Pakistan’s Asia Cup campaign due to a knee injury, looked in decent form during his side’s warm-up game against Afghanistan. The Pakistani star had commented on devising the Indian skipper’s dismissal at the Dubai International Stadium last year.
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During a chat with ESPNCricinfo, Shaheen Afridi said, “I had observed that Rohit Sharma struggles against the inswing, at that yorker length. In 2021, most of my dismissals were with that length. So I thought to myself, if that’s my strength why not use it against him in the first ball that bowl to him.”
While Virat Kohli, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, and Rishabh Pant gave the training session a miss, veteran batter Dinesh Karthik and Deepak Hooda accompanied Rohit at the MCG, preparing for their opening fixture of the T20 World Cup.
