The premier Pakistan National Cricket Team left-arm pacer Shaheen Afridi rattled the stumps of the India National Cricket Team skipper Rohit Sharma on Sunday, February 23.
Shaheen Afridi picked up the crucial wicket of Rohit Sharma during the high-octane ICC Champions Trophy 2025 match between India and Pakistan at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium to provide his team with a good start.
Also Read: Watch: Ravindra Jadeja makes Tayyab Tahir look foolish with absolute peach in IND vs PAK clash
Rohit Sharma falls for 20 against Pakistan
The Indian captain once again came out all guns blazing while opening the innings. He went berserk right from the start and took the Pakistan bowlers to the cleaners.
Rohit Sharma looked to put pressure on the Pakistan pacers Shaheen Afridi and Naseem Shah as he wanted to allow his opening partner Shubman Gill play his natural game cautiously without worrying about the scoring rate.
Rohit’s stay in the middle, meanwhile, came to an end in the 5th over of the innings. On the fifth ball of the over, Rohit smashed Shaheen for a boundary and the latter responded by bowling an unplayable inswinging yorker next.
On the last ball of the over, Shaheen bowled a ripping inswinging yorker to Rohit. The Indian skipper desperately tried to jam his bat down but couldn’t touch the ball, and it rattled his stump.
After picking the wicket, Shaheen did his trademark celebration, and Rohit Sharma walked back to the hut with 20 runs under his belt off 15 balls, with 3 fours and 1 six.
Watch: Shaheen Afridi demolishes Rohit Sharma’s stumps
Shaheen Shah Afridi gets Rohit Sharma with an absolute cracker delivery pic.twitter.com/l18z8rpjIM
— Sports Production (@SSpotlight71) February 23, 2025
Pakistan lost their ICC Champions Trophy 2025 opener
Pakistan, while hosting their first global tournament since 1995, got off to a disappointing start as New Zealand handed them a 60-run defeat in the opening match of the ICC Champions Trophy 2025 in Karachi.
Opting to bowl first, Pakistan’s bowlers initially did a good job, reducing New Zealand to 73 for 3. However, they failed to capitalize on it as Will Young (107) and Tom Latham (118*) stitched together a match-winning stand, completely shifting the momentum in New Zealand’s favor.
Glenn Phillips also came up with an explosive innings (61 off 39) and took the Black Caps to a formidable score of 320/5.
Chasing 321, Pakistan’s innings never gained momentum. Fakhar Zaman, who had earlier been injured, was demoted in the batting order. In his absence at the top, Saud Shakeel opened with Babar Azam and failed miserably.
Captain Mohammad Rizwan also got out early, leaving Pakistan struggling at 22 for 2. Then, Babar Azam (64 off 90) held one end but lacked support as Pakistan’s middle order crumbled under pressure. Despite a valiant 69 from Khushdil Shah, the required rate was very high, and Pakistan were bowled out for 260 in the 48th over to face a humiliating loss.
Also Read: Watch: Harshit Rana gives FIERY send-off to Khushdil Shah in IND vs PAK CT 2025 clash
