Aakash Chopra: “Afridi is getting close to his best but isn’t there yet…and unlikely to be by the 23rd either”
Image courtesy of: Unsplash
Former India batsman Aakash Chopra believes that Pakistan fast bowler Shaheen Shah Afridi won’t be at his best in the 2022 T20 World Cup match against the men in blue.
Afridi is coming back after a lengthy injury layoff, which saw him miss the Asia Cup, seven-match T20 series against England and the T20 tri-series against New Zealand and Bangladesh.
Having recovered from the knee ligament injury that kept him out of action, the 22-year-old has been on fire in the T20 World Cup warm-up matches.
Chopra admitted that Afridi is “getting close to his best” but isn’t performing at his peak yet.
“Afridi is getting close to his best but isn’t there yet…and unlikely to be by the 23rd either,” he said on Twitter.
India and Pakistan will go up against each other on October 23 in Melbourne.
When they clashed in the 2021 T20 World Cup, Afridi was named Man of the Match for his figures of 3-31 off four overs, which saw him remove Rohit Sharma, Lokesh Rahul and Virat Kohli.
Thanks to his efforts with the ball, the men in green cruised to a 10-wicket win.
Pakistan’s 2022 T20 World Cup squad: Babar Azam (captain), Shadab Khan (vice-captain), Asif Ali, Fakhar Zaman, Haider Ali, Haris Rauf, Iftikhar Ahmed, Khushdil Shah, Mohammad Hasnain, Mohammad Nawaz, Mohammad Rizwan, Mohammad Wasim Jnr, Naseem Shah, Shaheen Shah Afridi and Shan Masood
Reserves: Mohammad Haris, Shahnawaz Dahani and Usman Qadir
ALSO CHECK OUT: