Srinagar: Former Team India opener turned expert Gautam Gambhir has given his suggestions to India top order batters on how to play Pakistan spearhead pacer Shaheen Afridi.
India ans Pakistan are set to clash in the T20 World Cup 2022 match on October 23 in Melbourne.
In the past, the left-arm pacer has been a real danger for India’s top order.
Gautam Gambhir discussed how Indian batters should try to keep Shaheen at bay.
“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. Whether it’s your backlift, whether it’s your footwork, and obviously, in T20 cricket you can’t look to survive,” Gautam Gambhir said.
“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. India will be fine because India has got the quality in their top 3 or 4 who can definitely take on Shaheen Shah Afridi”, Gambhir said.
Irfan Pathan, former India all rounder said, “Look, one thing is clear. When you play at the MCG, the straight boundaries are not that big. It’s the side boundaries that are massive. Obviously, India needs to be smart, especially the batting. Probably, it will be difficult to hit the side boundaries, so they have to play the gaps and probably convert the twos into threes and ones into twos, because running between the wickets will very important.”
