Legendary South African cricketer AB de Villiers was proven wrong by Pakistan speedster Shaheen Afridi on Saturday.
Shaheen impressed one and all with his scintillating bowling spell against India during the Asia Cup 2023 in Kandy, Sri Lanka.
The left-armer was the pick of the bowlers for Pakistan with figures of 4-35 in 10 overs. He claimed the prized scalps of Pandya, Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma and Ravindra Jadeja.
De Villiers admitted that he thought that Shaheen struggled for rhythm in the first match of Asia Cup 2023 against Nepal, however he was proven wrong after the pacer’s superb performance against India.
“We were talking about Shaheen Afridi’s lack of rhythm in that last game [against Nepal]. I guess there’s absolutely nothing wrong with him as I mentioned, he was probably saving his best for the big moment,” the former South Africa captain said on X, which was formerly known as Twitter.
It must be noted that the highly-anticipated match between Pakistan and India during the Asia Cup 2023 was abandoned due to rain in Kandy, Sri Lanka, on Saturday.
Pakistan didn't get a chance to bat as persistent rain thwarted their chances of chasing down India's target of 267 runs.
The washout also meant that Pakistan have qualified for the Super 4 stage of the tournament.
The arch-rivals will meet once again on September 10 in the Super Four stage should India win their final group game against Nepal on September 4.
Earlier, India were dismissed for 266 after winning the toss and deciding to bat first against Pakistan at the Pallekele International Cricket Stadium.
Ishan Kishan and Hardik Pandya scored fifties and brought their side back in the game after India had slipped to 66-4 inside 15 overs.
Pandya (87 off 90) and Kishan (82 off 81) added 138 runs in 141 balls for the fifth wicket.
Apart from Shaheen’s four wickets, Haris Rauf and Naseem Shah claimed three scalps each for Pakistan.