Former Pakistan pace spearhead Waqar Younis said that the exclusion of left-arm pacer Shaheen Shah Afridi from Asia Cup 2022 due to injury is a big relief for India’s top-order batters.
Shaheen will not play in the Asia Cup or the seven-match T20 domestic series against England, according to the Pakistan Cricket Board. However, he is anticipated to make a competitive comeback in cricket in October with the New Zealand tri-series, which will be followed by the ICC T20 World Cup in Australia.
The match between India and Pakistan, which is set to take place on August 28 as part of the Asia Cup, will surely become even more acrimonious as a result of Younis’ statement.
However, it was a tweet of the former Pakistan cricketer that is making the noise more rather than the pacer’s exclusion.
Waqar Younis Twitter
Waqar Younis bemoaned Afridi’s injury and claimed that the Indian top order will now be able to exhale in relief with the pacer side lined due to injury. “Shaheen’s injury Big relief for the Indian top order batsmen. Sad we won’t be seeing him in #AsiaCup2022 Get fit soon Champ @iShaheenAfridi,” tweeted the Pakistan great.
Waqar Younis on IND Vs PAK
Shaheen’s injury Big relief for the Indian top order batsmen. Sad we won’t be seeing him in #AsiaCup2022 Get fit soon Champ @iShaheenAfridi pic.twitter.com/Fosph7yVHs
— Waqar Younis (@waqyounis99) August 20, 2022
ICC T20 World Cup 2021 Ind Vs Pak
Waqar Younis was undoubtedly alluding to the 2021 ICC T20 World Cup match between India and Pakistan in Dubai. After rattling the Indian batters, particularly the top three, Shaheen Afridi was named Player of the Match. While taking out Rohit Sharma for a golden duck, he also dismissed KL Rahul for just three runs. In addition, he took out Virat Kohli, who had scored a half-century.
India will be seeking revenge when they play Pakistan as the last time the two teams faced off, India lost to their neighbours by a discouraging 10-wicket margin in the T20 World Cup 2021.
India & Pakistan squads for the Asia Cup 2022:
India: Rohit Sharma (c), KL Rahul, Virat Kohli, Suryakumar Yadav, Rishabh Pant, Deepak Hooda, Dinesh Karthik, Hardik Pandya, Ravindra Jadeja, R Ashwin, Yuzvendra Chahal, Ravi Bishnoi, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Arshdeep Singh, Avesh Khan. Standby: Shreyas Iyer, Axar Patel, Deepak Chahar.
Pakistan: Babar Azam (c), Shadab Khan, Asif Ali, Fakhar Zaman, Haider Ali, Haris Rauf, Iftikhar Ahmed, Khushdil Shah, Mohammad Nawaz, Mohammad Rizwan, Mohammad Wasim Jnr, Naseem Shah, Shahnawaz Dahani, Usman Qadir.
