"He was off color and tried too hard" - Waqar Younis critical of Shaheen Afridi's bowling in IND vs PAK Asia Cup 2023 Super 4 clash

Former Pakistan pacer Waqar Younis was far from pleased with Shaheen Afridi's performance with the new ball during the Asia Cup 2023 Super Four clash against India at the R, Premadasa Stadium in Colombo on Sunday.

The left-arm pacer was excellent during the group-stage contest against India, finishing with figures of 4-35, which included the wickets of both Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli. However, during the second time of asking, Afridi was not at his best and was subject to a brutal takedown by the Indian openers.

Afridi conceded 31 runs in his first three overs as he struggled to find movement and rhythm, failing to cope against Team India's refreshed approach against him. Rohit set the template early on by hitting a six off the final delivery of Afridi's first over.

Opining that Afridi tried too hard with the new ball, Waqar Younis said during the rain interruption on Star Sports:

"Shaheen was totally off color with the new ball. Nobody in the Pakistan team line-up tried to bowl the short ball and the bouncers. The swing as there - Naseem showed it from the other end."

"If you bowl in the right areas, you will trouble the batters. But Shaheen has to think hard, even in the previous match, although he bowled a brilliant 10 overs, he was off colour and tried too hard today and gave away easy boundaries," he added.

Naseem Shah bowled a scathing spell from the other end which forced Rohit Sharma to be cautious for a while. The young pacer was able to extract movement and bounce off the surface by bowling back of a length and even accounted for a maiden over during the Indian openers' carnage.

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Shaheen Afridi returned to claim the wicket of Shubman Gill in the middle overs

The left-arm seamer was brought back into the attack upon the arrival of Virat Kohli to the crease. He managed to deliver the second breakthrough for Pakistan by deceiving Shubman Gill with an off-pace delivery.

The young batter went for a drive but was completely deceived by the pace and ended up chipping the ball to the fielder placed at cover.

Afridi's figures read 5-0-37-1 when rain halted the proceedings, forcing the contest to head into the reserve day scheduled for Monday.

Team India will begin from their overnight score of 147-2 after 24.1 overs, with Virat Kohli and KL Rahul occupying the crease.