Shaheen Shah Afridi and the threat of the balls he doesn't bowl
Is it 2023? A left-arm pacer is running through the Indian top order in a pressure game, and critics have already started flocking to social media to sling mud at the players, the coaching staff, and whoever else they can lay their eyes on.
Not even God is spared. After all, how could the heavens open up just when Rohit Sharma seemed like he had Shaheen Shah Afridi all figured out? Ah, rain breaks, opposition left-armers, high-pressure games...why does God keep doing this to the greatest (read: richest) entity in world sport, the Indian cricket team?
There are a few subtle indications that what we are feeling isn't a case of deja vu. The backdrop of the 2016 Asia Cup, the 2017 Champions Trophy final, the 2021 T20 World Cup, and just about any other game that has featured India and Pakistan is all too real and fresh.
This is, in fact, 2023. Critics don't flock to Twitter anymore, they flock to X. The broadcast has a "speed view" where the only thing faster than the ball would be the flare of fans' tempers if the view is used when there's an LBW. And as far as high-pressure games go, this is perhaps as low-profile as they come, as virtually nothing is on the line for both teams.
By a stroke of luck (*cough* the Asia Cup scheduling committee *cough*), Nepal, a featherweight at best, have been sent to their execution by being placed in Group A, alongside heavyweights India and Pakistan. The opening encounter of the tournament was a close affair - Iftikhar Ahmed's 109 after coming in at No. 6 only narrowly beat Nepal's 104 by five runs.
The result? India and Pakistan can potentially play each other thrice, having essentially been granted qualification from the group stage. They will, in all likelihood, meet each other in the Super Fours just a few days from now.
Then, the arch-rivals will look to set a rather bizarre record straight (there has never been an India-Pakistan Asia Cup final, take that scheduling committee) and fraternize ahead of the match fight tooth and nail to clinch the trophy on September 17.
But it's time to understand that despite all this talk about fixtures, contests between India and Pakistan aren't always played on the pitch. They're generally about past encounters and future possibilities, and only rarely about the present contest between bat and ball.
What does that mean? Well, by the time Shaheen castled Rohit in the fifth over, the Indian skipper had already been dismissed.
Shaheen Shah Afridi, like all great sportspersons, is a master of the two-card trick
What makes a sportsperson truly elite? It's almost always having two skills to fall back on, and those who have the unfortunate fate of having to face up against them only have the werewithal to pick their poison.
Khabib Nurmagomedov was an average striker at best, but the threat of his takedown made him a disproportionate force on the feet. Steph Curry's threat from beyond the arc is so real and so fierce that he gets far more opportunities to drive to the basket.
There are uncountable examples in the game of cricket alone, which, like any other sport, is all about games within the game. Setups dictate the flow of any contest.
Rashid Khan is a prime example. The lazy narrative that you can play for the googly off every ball and survive Rashid has proven to be nothing but a foolhardy suggestion from those who don't know how to strategize against a bowler who's near-impossible to get the better of.
Shaheen Afridi, all of 23 years of age, is already elite. He belongs to the Khabib, Curry and Rashid category, and when he's at his best, he has so many cards up his sleeve that he'll almost always be a step ahead of the batter.
The inswinger may have disturbed Rohit Sharma's stumps, but it wasn't the ball that got him out. If at all an inswinger got him out, it was the one he faced on October 24, 2021 and not on September 2, 2023.
You could fault Rohit's execution, but not his strategy. He opened up his stance significantly, attempting to take the LBW out of the equation. Shaheen didn't seem too keen on an adjustment early on, attacking the stumps and consequently being picked off on the leg-side.
Eventually, though, the left-armer found his bearings. Elite players always do. Shaheen resorted to the away-angler, a ball that he hadn't really needed to bowl all that often to the Indian top order as his stock new-ball delivery had done the trick.
Away-angler, beaten. Away-angler, beaten. Inswinger, bowled.
Virat Kohli sauntered in, thumped a cover drive in inimitable fashion off Naseem Shah, and marked his guard against Shaheen.
Away-angler, left alone without much foot movement. Away-angler, chopped on unconvincingly. Come on, Virat, you didn't even make it to the third ball, the inswinger.
Cricket is not that easy, is it? For Shaheen Shah Afridi, it might just be.
Shaheen's work on the setup started almost two years ago. Mohammad Amir and Junaid Khan started laying the groundwork more than half a decade ago, with media narratives surely not helping the Indian batters either. Speaking of which...
The Asia Cup, the World Cup, and the rest of Shaheen Shah Afridi's career against India
The unfortunate truth of the matter is that any India-Pakistan contest in the foreseeable future is going to be accompanied by a distinct sense of foreboding and fright on the part of the former's fans.
The narratives of the upcoming Asia Cup meetings, the World Cup and any upcoming tournaments have already been penciled in. Yes, this article is one among many contributing to the same. Guilty as charged.
Rohit is going to be asked about Shaheen's threat with the new ball. He's not going to be able to say much. How often do you see a batter reveal his tactics to counter a certain bowler ahead of the game? Maybe we'll get some gospel from the Indian skipper in an interview a decade from now, when he's a pundit and Shaheen has 500 wickets in international cricket.
How can Rohit counter Shaheen? There may not be a definitive answer apart from the cliches the batter spouts when asked about it - "stay calm", "watch the ball". They are admittedly convenient cliches, but India's openers failed to play deliveries on merit in the 2022 T20 World Cup, when the left-armer wasn't as potent as they made him out to be.
World-class batters like Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli will eventually find a way to outthink and outplay their most worthy opponents. They're the best in the world for a reason.
There will certainly come a time in the near future when the Indian top order negotiate a Shaheen new-ball spell without incident. Only for Naseem to blow them away at the other end.