Asia Cup 2022: KL Rahul reacts on Shaheen Shah's absence for the India vs Pakistan clash

Shaheen Shah Afridi ripped through Rahul's defense in the T20 World Cup (PC: Twitter)

Indian vice-captain KL Rahul reckons that playing against world-class Shaheen Shah Afridi would have been a good experience for the Indian team.

Ahead of Asia Cup 2022, Pakistan endured a big blow as their premier fast bowler Shaheen Shah Afridi was ruled out with a knee injury. He was one of the architects of Pakistan's famous win over India in the last year's T20 World Cup 

The left-armer's performance with the ball was key to the side's victory, as he bagged the crucial wickets of India's top-3; KL Rahul, Rohit Sharma, and Virat Kohli, from which the side eventually failed to recover.

Shaheen is a quality bowler: Rahul

While addressing a press conference on Friday, the Indian top order batter said the left-arm seamers around the globe are indeed causing troubles for the batters, and that it would have been a great experience for the Indian players to take on someone of the caliber of Shaheen.

“Our mindset was that we play a quality bowler. I’ve seen how Shaheen Shah Afridi has performed in the last two years. He is a world-class bowler, he is a quality bowler. Left-arm seamers right now in world cricket are the most dangerous and they are causing problems for batters. If he would have played, it would have been a good experience for us. Unfortunately, he is injured,” 

It is no secret that the prolific Indian batting lineup struggles against the left arm angle, and the opposition teams have been exploiting this weakness for fun. However, Rahul's remarks suggest that this time the Indian batters were better prepared for the challenge. 

Pakistan and India are set to go toe-to-toe in a highly anticipated second game of the multi-nation tournament on August 28.

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