Pakan pacers vs India openers: Round 2 to Rohit Sharma & Shubman Gill | Cricket News

Prior to Sunday, no batsman had hit Shaheen Shah Afridi for a six in his first over. Rohit Sharma would make that into a story. In the 42 ODIs he has played, never has the left-arm pacer conceded more than five boundaries in a match. Shubman Gill alone walloped six boundaries off him, all of it inside Afridi’s first three overs. When the openers departed, India were 123/2 in 17.5 overs, the sort of start none expected them to get, and the time the rains intervened, India had reached 147 for 2 in 24.1 overs with the game set to resume on Monday.
This was not even a case of India playing fire with fire. Like Triple H used to walk into the wrestling ring in a steel cage contest, Rohit and Gill came in with a plan and executed in the most authoritative fashion, where each shot made you wonder, ‘why don’t they play this often?’ First up, when Afridi pitched one that swung in late into the leg-stump, Rohit deposited where it belonged – over the square-leg ropes. And when the Indian captain played a lofted shot over covers off Naseem Shah in the second over, the mood was set.

Sublime 6️⃣
A majestic flick & @ImRo45 deposits one over the ropes!Authoritative way to get off the mark!
Tune-in to #AsiaCupOnStar, LIVE NOW on Star Sports Network#INDvPAK #Cricket pic.twitter.com/px5RgEIyZd
— Star Sports (@StarSportsIndia) September 10, 2023
For the past week, all the talk around the Indian team has been on how they will face Shaheen Shah Afridi. In the recent outings against Pakan, an opposition they don’t face get to face often they almost invariably seem to be in a damage-control mode, looking to survive rather than be on the lookout for runs. During their net sessions, they have had over the past week, they have spent hours, finding ways to deal with him, even making their video analyst record each and every delivery they faced off their left-arm throwdown special. Everyone around them has had an opinion about why they keep struggling against left-arm pacers, especially Afridi. Even from across the border, former Pakan pacer Aaqib Javed says they are playing the bowler rather than the ball, and are even missing the half-volleys.

In fact it was a missed half-volley that kickstarted it in the first over. Even as Rohit Sharma patted it gently to the off, he winced, just as he had done in the third ball after missing out on a leg-stump hit-me-ball. The next ball was thrown back from the stands beyond square-leg.

6️⃣, 6️⃣, 4️⃣#TeamIndia openers on the charge! 💥@ImRo45 & @ShubmanGill are in exceptional touch, bringing up a terrific 💯 stand!
Tune-in to #AsiaCupOnStar, LIVE NOW on Star Sports Network#INDvPAK #Cricket pic.twitter.com/wV7xJQVZQF
— Star Sports (@StarSportsIndia) September 10, 2023
It is hard to know from the outside how much all of this talk around one bowler has been received within the team. Such build ups can often end up leaving an already brittle top-order more tentative. It can sow further seeds of doubt. Publically, India’s batsmen have acknowledged the exceptional skills of Afridi, and have seldom spoken him down. Even in the net session when their batsmen were facing the left-arm throwdown special, head coach Rahul Dravid and batting coach Vikram Rathour had their eyes elsewhere. They were aware of what was troubling them, yet they were not going to press the panic button.
So when Afridi vs India Round 2 of the Asia Cup began in Colombo, few would have expected what was to come. This Indian batting line-up seldom throws in the first punches when confronted with a challenging attack even on batting friendly conditions in limited-overs. Around them, others like England, Australia are playing the ODIs as it is supposed to be played in 2023, where they are more daring and ready to take on bowlers. India, as a plan, mostly stick to waiting for bad deliveries. They are still not the team that goes on the attack unless forced to. Rohit Sharma has been speaking about it to change this trend, where they cannot let opposition attacks climb over them straightaway.Most Read
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Taking down Afridi comes with a lot of risk that even teams with explosive openers prefer to play him out. But for India, a message or two had to be sent across.

5️⃣0️⃣ up!@ImRo45 🤝 @ShubmanGill are off to a terrific start! 😍
Positive cricket at the top of the order put #TeamIndia on 🔝
Tune-in to #AsiaCupOnStar, LIVE NOW on Star Sports Network#INDvPAK #Cricket pic.twitter.com/UEWO2kV2J8
— Star Sports (@StarSportsIndia) September 10, 2023
During Afridi’s second over, Gill started with successive boundaries on the leg-side, one a tickle and another casual flick over mid-on. Two boundaries in, you thought Gill would play this over out. Three deliveries later, he would lean into a cover drive where the footwork, which was his problem against the swinging delivery, was perfectly in sync. At the other end, Naseem was posing all sorts of questions to Rohit, with his nipbackers and away-shapers, his fingers flicking down on the seam. At one point, Rohit even tried to break his rhythm and ran down the track to hit him over mid-off, but the seam movement meant he didn’t even connect.

It seemed as if normal service had resumed. But Gill was in no mood to take his pedal off. Off the second ball of Afridi’s third over, he just walked towards the pitch of the ball and effortlessly extended his arm in one single motion over mid-on for his fourth boundary. Afridi, now looked rattled. He was not finding the rhythm and even if he wished, India were not letting him settle into it. He switched around the wicket, and Gill drove him either side of the cover-fielder as Afridi’s first spell, which usually spells doom for openers – was taken down piece piece.
But at the other end, Naseem kept prodding Rohit and Pakan brought in Faheem Ashraf as two overs went quietly. And having found a successful formula against Afridi, Rohit and Gill would use the same against Naseem as they picked boundaries whenever they intended to. Fully aware that Pakan’s bowlers prefer attacking in the first spell, Rohit and Gill found their own ways to dismantle their plans, as even Haris Rauf wasn’t spared. Leg-spinner Shadab Khan started with three long hops, and was greeted with two sixes and a boundary Rohit. Off his second over, full tosses and overpitched dollies were put away for a six and a four. Shadab recovered in the third, inducing Rohit to hole out at long-off. And an over later, Gill too departed, scooping a slower cutter from Afridi to cover. Time will tell if this attacking approach becomes the norm or if India dial it down.