- By Himanshu Badola
- Sun, 03 Sep 2023 08:36 AM (IST)
- Source:JND
India's star batter Virat Kohli was one of the few players to watch out for in the high-voltage clash against Pakistan in the third match of the ongoing Asia Cup 2023 tournament in Pallekele on Saturday.
Kohli began his innings with a marvelous cover drive off Naseem Shah, a shot that left everyone in optimism after the early dismissal of captain Rohit Sharma.
Pakistan's pace bowlers were breathing fire and a few moments later Virat was too undone by Shaheen Afridi who had removed Rohit for 11 after the resumption of play.
The left-arm pacer went on to account for the wicket of Kohli as well, having him bowled for four to land early jolts.
Kohli looked disappointed after the dismissal as tried to dab one from outside off to the third man region for a single or two but instead, an inside edge resulted in the ball being directed onto the stumps.
Former India batter and commentator criticised the former Indian captain for being a bit casual as India looked in a spot of bother after both the star batter departed.
“That was a nothing shot, neither forward, neither back. I think was a bit casual. That’s what you get when you play someone like Shaheen Afridi. You don’t know whether to go forward or back," Gambhir said on Star Sports.
On the other hand, Waqar Younis and Matthew Hayden were sympathetic to Kohli, terming him as ‘unlucky.'
Waqar hailed Afridi who changed his length after the rain break but also mentioned that the ball may have kept a bit low to what Kohli would have anticipated.
“Kohli was a touch unlucky. Inside edge, the ball didn’t come on to the bat and maybe even kept a bit low. But credit to Shaheen Shah Afridi for altering his length," he said.
Hayden chimed in, “Yeah, inside edge onto the stumps, could have got anywhere."
India were struggling at 66/4 before Hardik Pandya and Ishan Kishan put up a crucial partnership for the fifth wicket and helped the team reach a challenging total.
Pandya top-scored with 87 while Ishan made 82 as India were bowled out for 266in 48.5 overs.