IND vs PAK, Asia Cup 2023: Shoaib Akhtar slams Rohit Sharma, defends Shubman Gill and India batters

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Former Pakistan pacer Shoaib Akhtar has criticised India captain Rohit Sharma for failing to read and understand left-arm fast bowling of Shaheen Afridi who clean bowled the opener in the Asia Cup 2023 on Saturday.

After bowling two out-swinging delivery, Shaheen Afridi brought one back in to outfox Rohit Sharma as the ball went straight into the gap between his bat and pad to clean the off-stump.

Rohit Sharma has got out six times against left-hand pacer since the start of 2021. He has faced 147 deliveries to score 138 runs at an average of 23 and a strike rate of 93.87.

Shoaib Akhtar said Rohit Sharma did not have an answer despite knowing exactly what Shaheen Afridi was going to do - pitch it full and swing it in. He suggested that the 36-year-old would have to stop worrying as he has potential to negate the threat from the 23-year-old Pakistan speedster.

"I don't think Rohit is able to read or understand Shaheen at all. The visual of Rohit Sharma being beaten like this was not good, he is a far better player than this. Rohit can bat much better than this, I think he is worrying too much," Akhtar said on his YouTube channel.

"What a spell it was by Shaheen Afridi, what a bowler he is. Everyone knows what he will do, pitch it full and bring it back in, and despite that Rohit Sharma had no answer. But, what is Rohit Sharma supposed to do, in his defence he had last played him in 2022, he does not get the opportunity to face him too often," Akhtar explained.

Further, Akhtar reckoned that the two rain breaks also did not help the Indian batters and disrupted their concentration. He said Shubman Gill getting cleaned bowled by Haris Rauf was due to the same reason. India openers had looked solid before the rain stopped play for the first time after 4.2 overs in Pallekele.

"The constant interruptions by rain, leading to the players going off the ground and coming back in, it affects the focus of the batters. Gill lost his wicket exactly because of this reason, he lost his concentration, and that is why he played such a loose shot," Akhtar said on India's batting line-up and the effects of rain.

India were four down for 66 after strikes from Shaheen and Haris Rauf. However, Ishan Kishan and Hardik Pandya partnered for 138 runs to help India post 266. The second innings of play could not commence due to rain and the match had to be abandoned.