Watch: India meet their Pakistan counterparts including injured Shaheen Afridi – Firstcricket News, Firstpost

Excitement is certainly building towards the 2022 Asia Cup slated to be held in the United Arab Emirates from Saturday. Sri Lanka will take on Afghanistan in the opening match of the tournament on 27 August, but all eyes will be on the marquee India vs Pakistan Group A clash to be held on Sunday in Dubai.

The last time the two arch-rivals faced off was during the T20 World Cup 2021 in UAE, when skipper Babar Azam and Mohammad Rizwan helped Pakistan thump India by 10 wickets in a group game.

While there is bound to be heated rivalry on the field during the contest, some Indian players, including the likes of Rishabh Pant, Virat Kohli and Yuzvendra Chahal were seen catching up with their Pakistan counterparts, including Shaheen Afridi. A video of this was posted on Pakistan Cricket Board’s (PCB) official Twitter handle, captioning it: “Stars align ahead of the #AsiaCup2022. A high-profile meet and greet on the sidelines.”

Shaheen Shah Afridi has been ruled out of the Asia Cup due to an injury, and in the video, he could be seen wearing knee braces. The Indian players went ahead and enquired about Shaheen’s well-being.

One of the catchy and hilarious conversations was one between Shaheen and Rishabh Pant. Shaheen started the conversation, where he said: “Yaar main soch raha hu aapki tarah bas batting shuru kar du, ek haath se chhakke lagaau (I’m thinking of becoming a batter like you, start hitting sixes with a single hand).”

“Fast bowler ho toh effort lagaana padega sir! Compulsory hai (If you’re a fast bowler, you have to put in efforts. It’s compulsory),” Pant replied.

The 22-year-old pacer also added that his recovery time from the injury would take around five weeks. Shaheen also wished Pant a good luck.

“Good luck match ke liye, aaunga dekhne (Good luck for the game. I’ll come to see it),” he said in the video.

India will be without Jasprit Bumrah, their premier pacer. Bumrah is undergoing rehabilitation along with Harshal Patel at the National Cricket Academy in Bengaluru.

Meanwhile, struggling batter Virat Kohli, too will hope to end his rough patch and return to form. In 2022, across the four T20Is he has played, Kohli has managed just 81 runs from four games at an average of 20.25. He is yet to score an international century since November 2019.

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