Shaheen Afridi’s 4/35 in Pallekele on Saturday couldn’t go on to be a match-winning effort as rain forced both Pakistan and India to split points. But the left-arm quick certainly made an impact with the ball once again versus India with two of his wickets being the prized ones of captain Rohit Sharma and the talismanic Virat Kohli.

The right combination of inswing and outswing alongside dot balls helped Shaheen chalk out the scalps of Rohit and Kohli.

“I always try to give my side an early breakthrough. There was swing happening, but not in the right areas. So, I had to try a combination of inswing and outswing, which went on to help,” he said in a video uploaded on X by the Pakistan Cricket Board.

“It was also about hitting the right areas and bowling as many dot balls as possible to build up pressure.”

Bowling in that channel outside off-stump was key in earning Shaheen Kohli’s wicket. “I tried to bowl at that channel and not concede runs which then creates pressure on the batsman.

“Kohli, no doubt, has scored lots of runs against Pakistan. The ball wouldn’t do much when it was old and if Kohli became set, he would cash in on it. So, my job was to bowl in the channel and it paid off.”