Gambhir issues ‘dangerous’ Shaheen warning ahead of Pakistan, India clash

Former India batter Gautam Gambhir has warned his batter to avoid survival tactics against Pakistan pacer Shaheen Shah Afridi, as they are set to face arch-rivals on October 16.

The pacer is returning to the side after months of absence due to a knee injury. He is set to feature in the warm-up games against England and Afghanistan before the mega clash against India in the ICC T20 World Cup.

In an interview, Gambhir suggested that Indian batters should try to keep Shaheen at bay.

“When it comes to Shaheen, don’t look to survive,” said Gambhir on Star Sports. “Look to score runs against him, because the moment you look to survive, everything becomes really small. Whether it’s your backlift, whether it’s your footwork, and obviously, in T20 cricket you can’t look to survive,”

“I know that he can be dangerous with the new ball, but again, irrespective, the Indian batters need to score more runs, get into better positions, and look to time the balls rather than to hit it,” he said. “India will be fine because India has got the quality in their top three or four who can definitely take on Shaheen Afridi.”

Last time, when Pakistan and India came across in the T20 World Cup, the pacer ripped through India’s top order to hand the Men in Green a long-awaited victory in the mega-event.

In the last two meetings, the pacer wasn’t available due to injury as both teams settled with a victory each in the Asia Cup.