Shaheen
Afridi, Pakistan’s left-arm pace bowler, missed out on the match against India
in the Asia Cup 2022 match Sunday. Shaheen Afridi missed the match on account
of an injury and was seen in the stands supporting his team. Afridi’s knee
injury has left him out of the entire Asia Cup. He will, however, continue to
travel with the team while focussing on his rehabilitation. He is unlikely to
return to international cricket before October. Mohammed Hasnain replaced
Afridi in the Pakistan squad in the match against India.

Akash
Chopra, former India opener-turned-cricket commentator, said Shaheen Afridi’s
absence in the Pakistan squad will have a major impact. “The pitch at Dubai has
a lot of grass and help for the pacers. The absence of Shaheen Afridi has
pushed back Pakistan quite significantly. They say that it’s win the toss and
win the match in Dubai, but I feel that India can beat Pakistan even after
losing the toss as their bowling isn’t the same without Shaheen,” Chopra wrote
on Koo, the social media platform.

Shaheen
Afridi has a solid T20 International record so far. In the 40 matches he has played,
Shaheen Afridi has taken 47 wickets. His best figures in the format are 3/20.
His economy rate stands at 7.75.

Interestingly,
Shaheen Afridi currently stands at 99 wickets in Test cricket, one short of a
ton of wickets. The pace bowler has led the Pakistan cricket team’s speed
attack for some time now.

India won
the toss against Pakistan in the Asia Cup match Sunday. Indian skipper Rohit
Sharma decided to bowl. Speaking after the toss, Sharma said he did not think
the toss was particularly significant. For India, the controversial decision
has been to take Dinesh Karthik in the wicketkeeping role instead of Rishabh
Pant.

Dinesh
Karthik, 37, is obviously the more experienced player than 24-year-old Rishabh
Pant. Moreover, Karthik has, of late, emerged as a solid match-winner at the
tail end of the innings.