"The sort of form Virat is in, he will win this battle" - Harbhajan Singh on Virat Kohli's potential contest with Shaheen Shah Afridi in IND-PAK clash

Harbhajan Singh expects Virat Kohli to win his potential battle with Shaheen Shah Afridi in the World Cup 2023 clash between India and Pakistan.

The Men in Blue will lock horns with Babar Azam and Co. at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad on Saturday, October 14. Both sides have registered back-to-back wins to start their campaign in the tournament, with the hosts a rung higher on the points table due to their better net run rate.

While previewing the game on Star Sports, Singh was asked about his thoughts on the potential battle between Kohli and Afridi, to which he responded:

"It is a good battle but I feel the sort of form Virat is in, he will win this battle. Shaheen pitches the ball extremely full and tries to get batters out lbw or bowled with the new ball."

The former Indian spinner pointed out that the Pakistan swing bowler is not as effective in unfavorable conditions.

"He has not left such a big impression in the last five to seven matches, if you include the Asia Cup and the World Cup. He needs the conditions. If the conditions are good, he becomes an excellent bowler but if the conditions are not in his favor, he is just a decent bowler."

Harbhajan Singh highlighted that although Afridi is a good bowler, he does not possess skills like Wasim Akram. He also expressed hope that Rohit Sharma wins his battle with the Pakistan left-arm seamer and tires him out in the beginning of the innings.

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"He wasn't tested in the last match" - Sanjay Bangar on Virat Kohli

Virat Kohli scored an unbeaten half-century against Afghanistan. [P/C: AP]

Sanjay Bangar was asked about the likelihood of Virat Kohli bringing out something special for the encounter, to which he replied:

"Virat Kohli has had a good start to the World Cup. He had a match-winning partnership with KL Rahul in the first match. So he batted well. He wasn't tested in the last match."

The former Indian all-rounder pointed out that the modern batting great is in form and will want to prolong his good phase. He stated:

"Rohit Sharma made the match so easy, so he didn't have to do much on his home ground but he is in good rhythm for sure, and whenever he is in good rhythm, he tries that the phase goes very long and that is why he has so many achievements to his name."

Kohli has struck half-centuries in India's first two matches of World Cup 2023. While he fell 15 runs short of a century against Australia, he scored an unbeaten 55 against Afghanistan.