T20 World Cup: The strategy to deal with Shaheen Afridi is to play within "V" says Sachin Tendulkar.
First I start on a topic I just remember who is Shaheen Shah Afridi.
Shaheen Shah Afridi is a Pakistani professional cricketer who plays as a fast bowler for the Pakistan national cricket team. He made his international debut for Pakistan in April 2018 and his Test match debut for the national team in December 2018.[2] In 2017, Afridi was noted as a 6-foot-6 inch 17-year-old Pakistani fast-bowling talent who can bowl at 90 mph,[3][4] and also for his big-hitting ability.[5] He considers himself an all-rounder and seeks to excel in bowling, batting and fielding.[6] In August 2018, he was one of the thirty-three players to be awarded a central contract for the 2018–19 season by the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB).[7][8] The following year, Afridi was awarded the Sir Garfield Sobers Trophy (Cricketer of the Year).
MELBOURNE: Shaheen Shah Afridi is one of the world's premier white ball bowlers and the Indian batters, need to try and play him "straight" even if they are attracting the talented Pakistan left-arm pacer said legendary Sachin Tendulkar.
Batting great Sachin Tendulkar offered valuable advice ahead of the upcoming T20 World pace sensation Shaheen Shah Afridi span> Cup Shaheen has emerged as one of the best bowlers with his swinging ability in the last two years. He's also consistently throwing above 140kph which worried many batters, however, the premier pacer was out of action before the T20 World Cup due to a knee injury. He will be under the scanners in Australia as the tournament will mark his return to competitive cricket after months.
In his prime, Tendulkar played a lot of limited-overs cricket against Wasim Akram, maybe den greatest left-arm fast bowler ever and the maestro did share his observations with PTI during a chat.
When asked what he would have done if he had faced a bowler of Shaheen's calibre during his playing days, Tendulkar laughed and said, "I haven't thought about it that way because I know I won't be facing him.
"Tendulkar advised the players to play Shaheen within the ‘V’ as the Pakistan pacer can beat the batters both in the air and off the pitch.
"Shaheen is an attacking bowler and likes to take wickets. He throws the ball up and back to swing the ball, and he can hit racquets in the air and off the field with his forward pace. So the strategy with him should be to play straight and into the 'V'," Tendulkar said. In the 2021 T20 WC, Shaheen troubled a lot of right-handed batters including current India skipper Rohit Sharam with his inswinging deliveries at an express pace. Tendulkar, a technician par excellence, also warned that even if a batter makes trigger movement (the initial reflex movement), it shouldn’t be akin to committing to play the shot. “Trigger movement is a preparation to play the ball and not a commitment, if you are not committing to play the ball, it could be either on front-foot or backfoot, but it is a trigger movement and no commitment," he said.
“Because once you are committed on backfoot, you can’t come on the front foot and vice versa.
Trigger movement is about preparation.
“Every ball, there is some kind of movement, as long as that is not commitment it is fine,"
Tendulkar concluded.
India will start their campaign against Pakistan in the T20 World Cup at Melbourne Cricket Ground on October 23. Earlier, this year, India faced Pakistan twice in Asia Cup 2022, Rohit Sharma and Co. won the first tie but suffered defeat in the Super 12 stage.
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