Former Indian batter Kris Srikkanth has asserted that the Afghanistan ace spinner Rashid Khan is past his prime. Notably, his comments came right after Afghanistan’s seven-wicket defeat to India in the first T20I on Sunday, September 13, in Delhi.
Speaking on his YouTube channel, Srikkanth reckoned that Afghanistan, led by Ibrahim Zadran, is weak across all departments, adding that veteran players like Rashid and Mohammad Nabi are way past their prime.
“This win is just killing an already dead snake. Afghanistan is a subpar side. All they do is come to India once every two months and get smashed. They almost willingly ask India to thrash them time and again. They are weak in all departments. Guys like Rashid Khan and Nabi are way past their prime.
Afghanistan posted 156/8 in 20 overs after being tasked to bat first. India took 14 overs to seal the deal with seven wickets in hand. Ace spinner Rashid Khan conceded 34 runs off 3.4 wicketless overs.
Further, the former Indian captain insisted that the Indian team still has the concern of a fifth bowling option. Shreyas Iyer utilised Nitish Kumar Reddy, Abhishek Sharma, and Shivam Dube as the fifth bowling option. Interestingly, Dube conceded 21 runs off the 20th over.
“The only takeaway from this is Bumrah’s brilliant bowling in his comeback. But India are playing without a sixth bowler. You can get away with it against a terrible side like Afghanistan. But the good thing is India smashed them, as they should have. Because India should have done the same to Ireland but lost to them. That’s why the full team has been selected for this series,” said Srikkanth.
In the 157-run chase, Abhishek Sharma stole the show with 82 runs off 32 balls, with seven fours and as many sixes, at a strike rate of 256.25.
