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Cricket World Player of the Week - Shaheen Shah Afridi

©REUTERS

The India-Pakistan clash in the Asia Cup may have ended in a washout, but it was not before Pakistan's ace pacer Shaheen Shah Afridi (10-2-35-4) had another breathtaking outing.

The Pakistan vs India, 3rd Match of the Asia Cup 2023 was cut short by rain. After India were bowled out for 266 from 48.5 overs, Pakistan could never come out to bat in the absence of any respite from rain.

However, it was not before the Pakistan pacers showed why they have arguably the best attack in the world as Shaheen Afridi (4), Naseem Shah (3) and Haris Rauf (3) shared all the 10 wickets among them, to make life difficult for India in conditions tailor made for swing and seam bowling.

This was the first time in an Asia Cup match that all 10 wickets in an innings have been claimed by the pacers.

Shaheen accounted for the dismissals of big guns Rohit Sharma (10), Virat Kohli (4), Hardik Pandya (87) and Ravindra Jadeja (14) to not allow India to hit the 300-run mark which was looking achievable at one point.

Shaheen has always been dominant with the new ball, and takes a wicket or two in his first spell, almost without fail. What was even more encouraging for the Pakistan side was how he bowled at the death and removed Pandya and Jadeja to finish with figures of 10-2-35-4.

Beshak sari tareefain Allah pak ke liye!

Thank you Ammi Abbu. ?? pic.twitter.com/C5NQxfAvV3
— Shaheen Shah Afridi (@iShaheenAfridi) September 2, 2023