Indian cricketers interact with injured Shaheen Afridi in endearing moment

The Asia Cup is just a night away, and the players from all the participating nations are sweating it out in the nets to prepare for their opening fixtures. Thursday night was no different as teams made their way to the training sessions and in an endearing moment captured on camera, injured Pakistani pacer Shaheen Afridi was greeted by some of the Indian contingent, including Virat Kohli.

Pakistan’s bowling spearhead Shaheen has been ruled out of the upcoming 15th edition of the tournament owing to a knee injury. The left-arm pacer has been a nuisance for the Indian batter recently and his omission ahead of the titanic battle between India and Pakistan gave the Men in Blue an upper hand.

On Thursday night, the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB), put out a video from their official Twitter handle which saw Shaheen Afridi with the knee braces, greeted by star leggie Yuzvendra Chahal, followed by batting ace Virat Kohli and Rishabh Pant, before exchanging a few words with KL Rahul in the end.

Stars align ahead of the #AsiaCup2022 🤩

A high-profile meet and greet on the sidelines 👏 pic.twitter.com/c5vsNCi6xw

— Pakistan Cricket (@TheRealPCB) August 25, 2022

Rishabh Pant and Shaheen Afridi engage in a jovial chat before the practice session

Indian wicketkeeper-batter Rishabh Pant, who is known for his cheeky remarks from behind the stumps indulged in some light-hearted banter with the Pakistani left-arm pacer.

The Pakistan bowler said, “Yaar main soch raha hu aapki tarah bas batting shuru kar du, ek haath se chhakke lagaau (I’m thinking of becoming a batter like you, start hitting sixes with a single hand).”

“Fast bowler ho toh effort lagaana padega sir! Compulsory hai (If you’re a fast bowler, you have to put in efforts. It’s compulsory),” Pant replied

Afridi said that he would need around five weeks to recover after Pant enquired about his recovery time from the unfortunate injury. The fast bowling sensation, before taking his leave, wished the explosive southpaw all the best for the match, saying, “Good luck match ke liye, aaunga dekhne (Good luck for the game. I’ll come to see it).”

The arch-rivals will lock horns in a riveting contest on Sunday, 28th of August as the Indian team will be out for revenge after their embarrassing ten-wicket defeat at the hands of Pakistan in last year’s T20 World Cup.