Matthew Hayden: India have got to be conservative against Shaheen

Shaheen Shah Afridi, Haris Rauf and Naseem Shah have emerged into one of the most potent bowling attacks in the world game. Their clash against India’s top order has been a fascinating battle in recent times. On Saturday in Kandy, the likes of Rohit Sharma, Gill and Kohli are once again handed the strong challenge of facing this premium trio.

Ex-AUS opener Matthew Hayden even went as far as to say, “India is playing against Pakistan’s pace trio”.

During an interaction in Star Sports, Matthew Hayden said –

“Well, I can tell you this is one of the spiciest competitions on the planet. We’ve got Shaheen Afridi, Haris Rauf, and Naseem. Three very different types of bowlers and unique bowlers which require unique plans from Team India.”

“Firstly, the conditions here in Kandy tend to have quite a lot of bounce, so you’ve got to watch that out, especially Haris Rauf. He’ll want to really hustle in and hit the top of off stump.”

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Hayden reckoned –

“You’ve got to be conservative against Shaheen Afridi. Remember back to the World Cup more recently; Shaheen was able to take early wickets. We’ll never forget that ball that he bowled to Captain Rohit Sharma.”

He also provided a solution on what India must do to deal with this – “If it’s swinging, look to play out those first three overs,” Hayden also suggests squeezing runs from the other end against Naseem Shah.