“You’ve got to be conservative against Shaheen Afridi” – Mathew Hayden.

The former Aussie wicketkeeper Mathew Hayden has warned the Indian batters to be wary of Shaheen Shah Afridi. Shaheen has the ability to take the wickets early on, and India is going to rely heavily on their start top-order batters. Hence, this warning from Hayden might be the thing that can save India from a batting debacle.

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“We’ll never forget that ball that he bowled to Rohit Sharma, so a little caution against Shaheen Afridi. If it’s swinging, look to play out those first three overs,”

Mathew Hayden

Mathew also praised Naseem and Haris Rauf for their prowess with the old and new ball. He said India vs. Pakistan’s pace tri will be an exciting match-up. He also added that India will have a hard time preparing for all of them since every bowler in the monster trio comes with a different game plan.

This is what he further added for Naseem and Haris Rauf.

“Firstly, the conditions here in Kandy tend to have quite a lot of bounce, so you’ve got to watch that out, especially Haris Rauf. He’ll want to hustle in and hit the top of the off stump. And I think with Naseem, even though he will shape the ball, Pakistan can be in a position to advance forward with India managing to take them out of play by aggressive plays against someone like Naseem.”

Pakistan has had the best start so far. They won against Nepal with a margin of 238 runs. This has put them in a comfortable spot for the super-4 stage. Now, it is time for them to face the Indian side.

Pakistan and India have faced against each other about 13 times in the Asia Cup. And India has a slight edge over them. But the recent record suggests that India won 4/5 times against the green shirts.

This time can be slightly different, as Pakistan has one of their best squads in recent years. Let’s see how this match unfolds.