Srinagar: Former India opener Gautam Gambhir refuse to step back from his ongoing rivalry with Virat Kohli and has taken fresh jibe at star India batter during India vs Pakistan Asia Cup 2023 clash.
Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli were bowled in the same ODI for the first time, courtesy of Pakistan fast bowler Shaheen Shah Afridi.
The likes of Waqar Younis, and Matthew Hayden termed Shaheen’s delivery to Rohit as an outstanding one and said Kohli was unlucky to get an inside edge back onto his stumps.
But former India opener Gautam Gambhir was having none of it. He slammed Kohli for his indecisiveness against Shaheen Afridi.
“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 in commentary on Star Sports.
Pakistan legend Waqar was not so harsh. “Kohli was a touch unlucky. Inside edge, the ball didn’t come on to bat and maybe even kept a bit low. But credit to Shaheen Shah Afridi for altering his length,” he said.
Hayden agreed: “Yeah, inside edge onto the stumps, could have got anywhere,” he said.
The incident happened in the third delivery of the 7th over of India’s innings. Shaheen had just dismissed India captain Rohit with a peach of a delivery after play resumed following a short rain interruption. The left-arm pacer ran in, hit the pitch hard and pushed the ball across Kohli. The former India captain tried to run it down to third man and got a thick inside edge back onto his stumps.
Shaheen and Haris Rauf got two wickets each to leave India’s in a spot of bother but thanks to a record fifth-wicket partnership between Ishan Kishan (82) and Hardik Pandya (87), India managed to put 266 runs on the board. Shaheen ended up with 4 for 35 while Haris and Naseem finished with three-fers.
The second inning couldn’t happen as match wad abandoned due to rain with teams sharing points.