"Virat is a world-class player, you have to plan a lot to face him": Pakistan's Shadab Khan

Mumbai (Maharashtra) [India], August 31 : Pakistan vice-captain and all-rounder Shadab Khan said that Virat Kohli is a world-class player and tackling him requires a lot of planning. 
He also said that the way he performed against Pakistan in last year's T20 World Cup in Australia, saving Team India from 31/4 during a chase of 160 with a knock of 82*, there is no other batter in the world that could have unleashed such brilliance against Pakistan's pace attack of Shaheen Shah Afridi, Naseem Shah and Haris Rauf. 
Shadab lent his insights during an exclusive conversation with Star Sports. Eulogizing Virat Kohli's calibre, Khan shared, "He is a world-class player, definitely. You have to plan a lot to face him. Anyway, in international cricket, there are a lot of mind games, because you definitely have the skill to reach that level. But how you read each other’s minds, the bowler and the batsman, how they read each other’s minds, and it also depends on what the situation is."
"The kind of batsman that Virat Kohli is, the way he has performed against us, even in the last match at the World Cup, I do not think that any other batsman in the world was in that situation, could have done that to our bowling line-up. And the beauty of it is that he can do this at any stage and at any time," he added. 
Pacer Shaheen Shah Afridi outlined his strategic outlook for the forthcoming Asia Cup 2023. He revealed, "In my opinion, my game plan is simple, every opener knows my game plan. The goal is to, as always, get the openers out to put pressure on the batting team. The middle order when they come in are not used to playing against the new ball as much as an opener. So there is a lot of pressure on the middle order to face the new ball."
Virat likes to play against Pakistan and numbers serve as evidence. In 13 ODIs against Pakistan, he has scored 536 runs at an average of 48.72 and a strike rate of 96.22. He has scored two centuries and two fifties in 13 innings, with the best score of 183. 
Overall in 23 international matches against Pakistan, Virat has scored 1,024 runs at an average of 60.23 and a strike rate of over 107, with two centuries and seven fifties and the best score of 183. 
Virat has been in good form this year. In 10 ODIs this year, he has scored 427 runs at an average of 53.37, with two tons and a fifty and a best of 166 against Sri Lanka.
In 17 international matches across formats this year in 19 innings, he has scored 984 runs at an average of 54.66 with four centuries and two fifties. His best score is 186 against Australia in the Border-Gavaskar Trophy.
He also had a good IPL 2023. Though his team Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) could not reach the playoffs, he scored 639 runs in 14 innings at an average of 53.25, with a strike rate of 139.25 and scored two centuries and six fifties in his 14 innings. He ended the tournament as the fourth-highest run-getter. 
Virat is a modern ODI great and easily one of the greatest ever too. With 12,898 runs in 275 matches at an average of 57.32, with 46 centuries and 65 fifties, fans wil be expecting Virat's statistics to see a major uptick in the coming months and he at least touches 13,000-14,000 ODI runs by the time year ends.
They will also have their eyes on Virat for breaking the record of most ODI centuries scored by Sachin Tendulkar (49 tons) and become the first-ever player with 50 ODI tons. Solid, tournament-winning performances in the Asia Cup and World Cup can establish Virat as the undisputed greatest in ODIs. 
Pakistan, India and Nepal are in Group A while Bangladesh, Afghanistan and Sri Lanka are in Group B. The tournament will follow a hybrid model with Pakistan hosting four matches across two venues and Sri Lanka hosting the remaining games. The six group-stage matches will be followed by the Super Fours beginning September 6.
The final will be played by the top two teams at the end of the Super Fours on September 17 in Colombo.
Indian Squad: Rohit Sharma (captain), Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, KL Rahul, Suryakumar Yadav, Tilak Varma, Ishan Kishan, Hardik Pandya (vice-captain), Ravindra Jadeja, Axar Patel, Shardul Thakur, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammad Shami, Mohammed Siraj, Kuldeep Yadav, Prasidh Krishna.
Pakistan: Babar Azam (c), Abdullah Shafique, Fakhar Zaman, Imam-ul-Haq, Salman Ali Agha, Iftikhar Ahmed, Mohammad Rizwan, Mohammad Haris, Shadab Khan, Mohammad Nawaz, Usama Mir, Faheem Ashraf, Haris Rauf, Mohammad Wasim Jnr, Naseem Shah, Shaheen Afridi, Saud Shakeel, Tayyab Tahir (travelling reserve).