India’s top-order batters struggled to find their footing in the first Asia Cup clash against Pakistan, resulting in losing 4 wickets for a score of 66 runs. Later on, the more than 100-run partnership between Ishan Kishan and Hardik Pandya helped the Indian side go past the 250-run mark and set a respectable total before the match was washed out owing to rains.
However, India’s top order struggling with Pakistani pacers has captured the attention of audiences who are worried about the Men in Blue’s performance against the Pakistani pace trio of Shaheen Afridi, Haris Rauf and Naseem Shah.
Manjrekar’s advice for Indian batters:
In an interaction with Star Sports, Manjrekar said, “The opening phase had two spells; in the first spell before the rain had come, he was bowling typical Shaheen Afridi kind of deliveries. He was bowling further up the pitch, trying to get the ball to swing inwards, and that length was being played very well by Shubman Gill and Rohit Sharma,”
Manjrekar opined that it wasn’t the typical fuller-length deliveries of Shaheen Afridi that troubled the Indian batter instead it was when the Pakistani pacer stretched his length back that the Indian batters struggled.
“He brought his length back and in that length, the good length, Rohit Sharma got out, and so did Virat. So it wasn’t the typical Shaheen Afridi kind of delivery that troubled the Indian batters, but the shorter length, meaning the movement from the pitch made them out.” Manjrekar noted.
The former Indian cricketer noted that Indian players need to prepare themselves for the good-length deliveries of Shaheen Afridi. He also pointed out the positives from the game saying that both Gill and Rohit Sharma weren’t phased by the swinging deliveries of the left-handed pacer.
Shubman Gill reveals how team is preparing to tackle Pakistan’s pacers:
Gill who has been with left-arm throw down specialistNjwan Seneviratne in order to prepare himself against the Pakistani pacers said, “Definitely (training has helped). He (Nuwan) has been travelling with us for the last 7-8 years. It is nice to have that variation. We have that right-arm specialist (Raghu), the side-arm specialist (Dayannd Garani) and the left-arm specialist. It does help in any conditions that you play,”
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Updated: 10 Sep 2023, 01:12 PM IST
