Look to score runs rather than just survive against Shaheen Afridi: Gambhir to India

When it comes to Shaheen Afridi, don’t expect her to live. Look for him to score runs. Because when you’re trying to survive, everything shrinks. Whether it’s your backlift, whether it’s your footwork, and obviously, you can’t look to survive in T20 cricket, Gambhir said on Star Sports’ ‘Game Plan.’
I know he’s dangerous with the new ball, but regardless, the Indian batters need to score more runs, get into better positions, and look to time the balls rather than hit them. India will be fine because they have quality in their top three or four players who can definitely take on Shaheen Shah Afridi, the former World T20 champion added. Former India teammate Irfan Pathan believes the Indian batters must play smartly at the iconic MCG.
The straight boundaries aren’t that big when you play at the MCG. The massive side boundaries are to blame. Obviously, India must be astute, particularly in the batting department. Probably, hitting the side boundaries will be difficult, so they’ll have to play the gaps and probably convert the twos into threes and the ones into twos, because running between the wickets will be very important, he predicted.
Pathan also offered advice to Indian bowlers facing Pakistan captain Babar Azam and Mohammad Rizwan.
Give them no room, especially Rizwan, because he’s the guy who carries the Powerplay on his shoulders. Just try to keep up the pace. Babar is patient. So you have to be aware of those situations and batters, he explained. The line must be tight and on the stumps. And the length varies slightly with both batters. You can afford to bowl more when it comes to Rizwan. You could try hitting him beneath the knee roll. This is where you can put your line and length.
When it comes to Babar Azam, you need to get him out LBW, but your aim should be behind his leg rather than in front of it because he’s slightly open. This is where Arshdeep and Bhuvaneshwar Kumar come in with their in-swinging deliveries, Irfan explained.