"It seems like he is staying rent-free in our minds" - Aakash Chopra picks Shaheen Shah Afridi as his Player of the Match for IND-PAK Asia Cup clash

Aakash Chopra has picked Shaheen Shah Afridi as his Player of the Match for the Asia Cup 2023 Group A clash between India and Pakistan in Pallekele on Saturday, September 2.

Afridi registered figures of 4/35 in 10 overs as the Men in Blue were bowled out for 266 after opting to bat first. However, the match didn't yield a result as rain played spoilsport and didn't allow a single ball to be bowled in the second innings.

In a video shared on his YouTube channel, Chopra picked Afridi as the star performer of the game ahead of Ishan Kishan and Hardik Pandya. He stated:

"We need to first talk about the Player of the Match even if it did not end up as a proper game. There are a lot of contenders. Ishan Kishan and Hardik Pandya played 80-odd run knocks, which took India to a position from where they could have fought. But my Player of the Match is Shaheen Shah Afridi."

The former Indian opener added:

"He opens you up at the start. The guy has class and swings the ball at a good pace. At the moment, it seems like he is staying rent-free in our minds because when he starts his run-up, I don't know what the batters think, but we feel that he will hit the pads or dismiss the batter."

Chopra pointed out that the batters' technical changes while facing the left-arm seamer are a reflection of their feelings. He explained:

"He does that as well and you can come to know what is going on in the batter's mind by the fact that the backlift gets shortened at times because you are getting ready for the yorker. Sometimes you open yourself up more so that the ball doesn't hit the pads."

The Indian top-order batters were slightly timid in their approach against Afridi. The tall pacer conceded only four boundaries, which included a dropped catch by Fakhar Zaman, and bowled two maiden overs.

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"He dismissed India's heart and heartbeat" - Aakash Chopra on Shaheen Shah Afridi's dismissals of Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli

Shaheen Shah Afridi bowled Rohit Sharma through the gate. [P/C: AP]

Aakash Chopra highlighted that Shaheen Shah Afridi rocked India by dismissing their two most accomplished batters. He observed:

"It was an extremely slow start. Shubman Gill hadn't even opened his account. But Shaheen Shah Afridi dismissed Rohit and Kohli with the new ball, which means he dismissed India's heart and heartbeat, life, body, everything."

The cricketer-turned-commentator added that India's nemesis also heralded a premature end to their innings after Ishan Kishan and Hardik Pandya strung together a 138-run fifth-wicket partnership. He said:

"He came in the end and picked up two more wickets and he had four wickets in his kitty overall. So in my opinion, Shaheen Shah Afridi was the Player of the Match in the one-inning match."

Afridi castled Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli to reduce India to 27/2 after 6.3 overs. He later dismissed Pandya and Ravindra Jadeja to trigger a lower-order collapse.