Asia Cup 2023: Here is how Rohit Sharma is preparing to face Pakistan pacer Shaheen Afridi

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Rohit Sharma has stepped his preparation to face left-arm pacer Shaheen Afridi ahead of India's first match of the Asia Cup 2023 against Pakistan on September 2 in Pallekele.

The star India opener's clash against the Pakistan bowling sensation is a much-anticipated one. Shaheen Afridi had clean bowled Rohit Sharma for a golden duck in the T20 World Cup 2021.

India's top-order in general has been left wanting against the left-arm pacers in the past. Mohammad Amir was all over India in the final of Champions Trophy 2017. New Zealand left-arm pacer Trent Boult was the crusader-in-chief in the semi-final of the 2019 World Cup. Shaheen Afridi himself rattled India in the 2021 T20 World Cup.

Rohit Sharma prepares for Shaheen Afridi ahead of Asia Cup 2023

On Day 3 of India's camp in Alur ahead of the Asia Cup 2023, Rohit Sharma asked left-arm pacer Aniket Choudhary to bowl to him. The 33-year-old Rajasthan pacer hasn't made his India debut yet but has an experience of playing in 75 first-class, 34 List A and 72 T20 matches. Aniket has also been part of Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) and Punjab Kings (PBKS) in the past.

While Aniket Choudhary obviously does not possess the skill sets of Shaheen Afridi, he can definitely help Rohit Sharma to figure out the angles to play Shaheen Afridi. Recently, Sanjay Manjrekar suggested Rohit to score runs against left-arm pacers through mid-off and mid-wicket areas.

“One doesn’t get much 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," Manjrekar told 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. The batsman will get a chance to get into a better position against that angle bowling and one needs to learn and know where runs can be scored against angle bowling and on what all aspects the batsman needs to focus more. So, during practice Rohit would have been focusing on these areas," he added.

Further, Virat Kohli faced the likes of Varun Chakravarthy, Rahul Chahar and Hrithik Shokeen in the lead up to the high-octane clash. KL Rahul went through wicket-keeping drills on day three of the ongoing camp in Alur.