Exactly a week later, the cricket fans will be delighted with one of the most epic battles of the game – featuring India and Pakistan. The encounter will be the campaign opener for Rohit Sharma & Co in the Asia Cup 2023 and they are leaving no stone unturned in their preparations. The unit has assembled in Alur for a conditioning camp where it’s undergoing intense fitness drills and net sessions.
The forthcoming face-off is going to be the first 50-over contest between both teams since they last met in the ICC World Cup 2019 in England. They have played four T20Is in the last four years where the biggest talking point has been the match-up between India’s top-order and Pakistan bowling spearhead Shaheen Shah Afridi.
The left-arm quick has visibly troubled the Indian batters, especially Rohit Sharma in the past years. So far, they have faced each other only thrice in international cricket. In Asia Cup 2018, which was a 50-over contest, Rohit scored 19 off 18 against Afridi en route to his match-winning century. However, the southpaw returned as a more mature bowler in the 2021 T20 World Cup in Dubai and dismissed the Indian captain for a golden duck. In their next face-off in T20 World Cup 2022, Rohit scored four runs off five balls.
In a bid to counter Afridi in the Asia Cup, Rohit has been training with a left-arm pacer in the Alur camp. The Indian batters batted in match simulations in a centre-wicket practice at the KSCA facility on Saturday where the captain asked Aniket Choudhary to bowl at him.
Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma batted against left arm pacers to fully prepare themselves for the Asia Cup.– The Hitman and the King are ready for the challenge…!! pic.twitter.com/Rj8RiAmrym
— Mufaddal Vohra (@mufaddal_vohra) August 26, 2023
The 33-year-old southpaw has never played for India before, and may not have the skillset of Afridi but his presence would give an idea to the Indian batters of what the arch-rivals would bring to the table.
Meanwhile, former India batting coach Sanjay Bangar analysed Rohit’s batting practice against Choudhary in the Alur nets.
“One doesn’t get many chances to play from that angle because most of the teams have a right-hand attack and opening bowling pairs. However, the angle is very crucial keeping in mind where you want to play as a batsman because when a left-arm bowler bowls from close to the stumps and brings it inwards towards the right-hand batsman," said Bangar on Star Sports.
“One should target the bowler, for that, the head position needs to be perfect and one needs to set himself and think of scoring runs between mid-off and mid-on/mid-wicket areas," he added.
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