Shoaib Akhtar takes dig at Rohit Sharma for his struggles in Asia Cup 2023

Former Pakistan fast bowler Shoaib Akhtar speaks about Rohit Sharma's poor form in Asia Cup 2023.

Former Pakistan bowler Shoaib Akhtar believes that Rohit Sharma is afraid of Pakistan pacer Shaheen Shah Afridi after his failure in the recent India vs Pakistan Asia Cup 2023 match.

India and Pakistan had fought at Pallekele, though Shaheen struggled at first with the new ball, he recovered brilliantly after a brief rain delay. He used some outswingers to set up Rohit Sharma before sending him back to the pavillion with a ball that came back in.

Rohit struggled against Pakistan in the four T20I matches since his 140 against the team in the 2019 World Cup. After being removed from the very first delivery he faced against Shaheen in the 2021 T20 World Cup.

Shoaib Akhtar, former speedster for Pakistan, revealed his confusion with Rohit's strategy against Shaheen. He claimed that Rohit is forced to shuffle because Shaheen has implanted terror in his heart.

"Yeh Rohit Sharma woh Rohit Sharma hai hi nahi. Yeh uska stunt double hai. Shaheen uske dimaag mein baith gaya hai. This is not the same Rohit Sharma. This one's a stunt double. Shaheen has conquered his mind. I have never seen him change his stance, but what was happening there? Stance change kara, beat Hua, bowl Hua (he changed his stance and got bowled). Shaheen is subconsciously in his mind. This is what the pressure of the India vs. Pakistan match does to players," Akhtar said during a virtual press conference organised by Star Sports.

Shaheen picked 4/35 vs India and reduced them to 66/4 before half-centuries from Ishan Kishan and Hardik Pandya rescued them and took India to 266.

'Rohit is unable to read or understand Shaheen,' says Shoaib Akhtar

Rohit Sharma had previously also been baffled by Shaheen’s inswing, and Shoaib Akhtar had earlier pointed out that Rohit is unable to read or understand the bowling of star pacer Shaheen.

"I think Rohit is unable to read or understand Shaheen. The visual of Rohit Sharma being beaten like this was not good, but he is a far better player than this. Rohit can bat much better than this. I think he is worrying too much," Akhtar said on his YouTube channel.

India and Pakistan will be facing each other next on September 10. It will be a super four match at R. Premadasa Stadium, Colombo.

India will then be playing against Sri Lanka on September 12, while their last super 4 match will be against Bangladesh on September 15.