Pakistan pacer Shaheen Afridi made a tall claim about his team after the marquee clash against India got called off due to rain at the Pallekele International Cricket Stadium in Kandy on Saturday.
Rahul Dravid's men got off to a disastrous start against their arch-rivals as they lost both Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli cheaply to Afridi before the pacer also bagged the important wicket of Hardik Pandya in his third spell.
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Against Sharma, it was a lethal in-swinger that sneaked through the gap between bat and pad and rattled the stumps. Whereas, Kohli saw the ball clip his leg stump after getting an inside edge when he was just at four. It was a short-length delivery outside off and the batsman could only chop it onto his stumps.
After the top-order collapsed, India laboured their way to 266/10 in 48.5 overs courtesy of two brilliant knocks from Ishan Kishan (82) and Pandya (87).
Although Pakistan did not get the opportunity to bat, Afridi claimed that his side would have won if the match was not interrupted by rain.
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What did Shaheen Afridi say?
"Wanted to do my bit with the new ball. 'I got two early wickets once again, and Hardik Pandya's wicket was very important too. Had it not rained, we would have won the match, it was in our control," he told the official Pakistan team media.
Shaheen Afridi reveals Pakistan's plan against Virat Kohli
Cricket fans were excited to witness a fierce battle between Afridi and Kohli but it turned out to be one-sided as the Indian batsman was castled on just four.
However, Afridi lavished praise on Kohli and hailed him as the "backbone" of the Indian batting unit.
"Virat Kohli is a great player! He has scored a lot of runs against Pakistan. It was a very important wicket for Pakistan. Had he got set, he would have scored runs here as he's the backbone of the Indian team.
"The plan was to bowl in the channels and also to bowl in partnerships. And I got the wickets. The credit goes to the team as this is a team game and they deserve the credit," he stated.
What next for India and Pakistan?
India will be back in action against Nepal on Monday whereas Pakistan have already qualified for the Super Four.
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