Virat Kohli shares a laugh with Pakistani players before Indo-Pak Asia Cup clash
The former Indian captain was seen interacting with Haris Rauf and Shadab Khan during the team’s practice session
India and Pakistan will be facing each other for the first time in four years in ODI cricket having last played in the 2019 fifty-over world cup. Since then the arch-rivals have played each other a lot in T20 cricket where the matches have been quite close which includes India’s come-from-behind victory in the 2022 T20 World Cup at Melbourne courtesy of a Virat Kohli masterclass where the batter single-handedly took India over the line in a last over thriller. Virat’s inning also included the famous down-the-ground six which he hit on the bowling of Haris Rauf on the fifth ball of the 19th over which was followed by another six on the last ball of the same over.
Old Memories
“Jidhar se guzarta hu na, Kohli-Kohli hota hai (Wherever I go, I hear your name) said Haris Rauf when the duo met during the practice session before the Indo-Pak clash in the Asia Cup. Both the teams were practicing at the same time in Pallekele to get used to the conditions that would be on offer late in the game. Indian and Pakistani players were seen interacting with each other. Still, the interaction that caught everyone’s eye was between Virat Kohli and Haris Rauf as the duo looked in a good mood before the match and was seen laughing with each other. Virat also met Shadab Khan and checked his bat while taking a break from practice.
Just another match
Meanwhile, Indian captain Rohit Sharma praised the Pakistani team for its performance in the recent past and said that they have worked hard to be number one. Rohit also said the team is approaching the game against Pakistan like any other match. In the words of Rohit “There are six very competitive teams in the Asia Cup and on a given day anyone can beat anyone,” Rohit said at the pre-match press conference. “Rivalry is there for people to talk about. As a team, what we see is we have an opposition to play tomorrow and see what we want to do. What is going to help us is to keep doing the right things on the field. Pakistan has played well in recent times in both T20Is and ODIs. They worked hard to be No.1 and it’ll be a good challenge for us tomorrow.”
