Shadab Khan: I wish to see Virat Kohli score a century in the Asia Cup, but not against us

Shaheen Afridi was seen interacting with Kohli, where he told the batter that he is praying for his comeback while Pakistan vice-captain Shadab Khan has said that he wishes to see Virat scoring a century in the Asia Cup, but not against his side.

Asia Cup will begin on August 27 in UAE with the opening game played between Sri Lanka and Afghanistan. The fans are eagerly waiting for the group stage high-octane clash between Pakistan and India. 

All eyes will be on Babar Azam’s and Virat Kohli’s forms. Kohli was struggling with a bat and he has not scored a century in nearly three years. He was rested for the recent series against Zimbabwe and West Indies. 

Pakistan star pacer Shaheen Afridi was seen interacting with Kohli, where he told the batter that he is praying for his comeback. However, Pakistan vice-captain Shadab Khan has said that he wishes to see Virat scoring a century in the Asia Cup, but not against his side.

“The former players are not playing right now so that is why they think that (Virat does not instill the same fear). It is still the same, when you are not playing, you think that this batter does not scare the opposition now. He is a legend, he has given many performances for India. He is a big player, you are always scared of him. We don’t want him to score a big inning against us, I just pray for him to score as many runs as he did before. I wish he registers a century, not against us, but some other opposition in the tournament,”

said Shadab during a press conference on Saturday.

Talking about the injuries to Shaheen Shah Afridi and Jasprit Bumrah, Shadab said:

“Both teams will miss Shaheen and Bumrah. They are the best players on their teams. But the beauty of cricket, it is not an individual sport, rather it is a team sport. Definitely, both teams will miss their main players, but you have to perform as a team in the end.”

The last time two sides met in T20 World Cup 2021, Pakistan badly defeated the Indian side by 10 wickets but Shadab said that it is all history now and it would be up to who performs better on the day.

“That match is history now. We will take the positives from that game forward. Especially the mindset, we will try to replicate the performances. But is all history now, it will be a new day and a new match. We will try to win. Hassan Ali is a match-winner for us, it is the beauty of cricket. There can be ups and downs, we have always had the belief in him. Recently, he did not give that many good performances but we had a plan of giving him match practice. Unfortunately, a scenario came up where we had to call him again. He a  match-winner bowler for us and we hope that he proves to be a match-winner again,”

said Shadab.

“We have a good team, but right now it is not a champion team. We will try to become a champion team. Definitely, teams are here to win and we are here to give our best effort to win. Results are not in our hands,”

he added.

Talking about the India-Pakistan game, Shadab said:

“The challenge is always there, there is a hype around an India-Pakistan game. There is extra pressure because of that, but when you play for the country, you want to play against India and do well. When you perform in an India-Pakistan game, you become a superstar. “