'Shaheen dismissed Rohit, Kohli, so focus was on him. But...': Gavaskar alerts Team India against another Pakistan star

Team India is preparing for a highly anticipated showdown with Pakistan in the Asia Cup Super 4 stage on Sunday. The two sides previously crossed paths during the group stage, but the match was abandoned due to rain in Pallekele. India played out their whole innings, scoring 266, but the match did leave the Indian team management wit significant concerns over their top-order failure. India were left reeling at 66/4 with Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli being castled by left-armer Shaheen Afridi, while fellow pacers Naseem Shah and Haris Rauf also making life miserable for the Indian batters.

India vs Pakistan Live Updates Asia Cup 2023

However, Hardik Pandya's resilient innings of 87 runs and Ishan Kishan's impressive 82 helped India recover from the early setbacks, guiding them to a total of 266. Among Pakistan's bowlers, star pacer Shaheen Afridi delivered a standout performance, registering impressive figures of 4/35. But while Afridi did end as the innings' leading wicket-taker, former India captain and batting great Sunil Gavaskar emphasised on the Naseem Shah threat as the side prepares to face Pakistan again.

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Gavaskar pointed out that the right-armer was terrific in his opening spell and created problems for Shubman Gill, insisting that his lethal out-swingers made it difficult for the Indian batters in the start.

“If you looked at those 10 overs, you must have noticed the way Naseem Shah bowled. His out-swingers were brilliant, playing him was pretty difficult. Shaheen Afridi did take two wickets of Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli, so focus was on him. But the way Naseem bowled, that was terrific. Shubman Gill was playing majorly against him, and he was leaving him well,” Gavaskar said in a joint broadcast from Sports Tak and Samaa TV.

“If batters keep getting out at other end, it's important to stick around. Shubman isn't in the best form right now, so he knows he has to take responsibility. This was a 50-over game after all. He has the shots to make up for slow start. I guess that's why he was watchful, and a bit nervous. But Naseem Shah kept Shubman Gill quiet,” said Gavaskar further.

Rain threat looms large

The upcoming India vs Pakistan match on Sunday faces a significant risk of being interrupted by rain again. The Asian Cricket Council triggered controversy earlier this week by designating a reserve day for the Super 4 encounter between the two arch-rivals, particularly because no other game in the Super 4 was allocated reserve day benefits.

This decision was prompted by the high likelihood of rain on the scheduled match day, Sunday. However, the weather forecast indicates that there are also considerable chances of rain on Monday, which means that even the reserve day might not guarantee uninterrupted play.