Picking Virat Kohli, KL Rahul and Rohit Sharma would represent a 'dream hat-trick', that's according to International Cricket Council (ICC) Men's Player of the Year, Shaheen Afridi. The 21-year-old was in the form of his life in 2021 where he scalped 78 wickets in all three formats. The young pacer was instrumental in Pakistan's first-ever World Cup win against India, at the back end of last year. He has now come out and expressed his ambition to get a 'dream hat-trick' by dismissing the top Indian trio.
“Rohit Sharma, KL Rahul and Virat Kohli", Afridi said in ’25 questions’ on ESPNCricinfo, when he was asked about his dream hat-trick.
The trio of Kohli, Rohit and Rahul have been in superb form for India in recent years but were all scalped by Afridi in the T20 World Cup encounter in Dubai in October 2021. This time he wants to go one better and pick them all on three consecutive balls.
Afridi, in 2021 scalped 47 Test wickets for Pakistan, which was the fifth-best return for a Pakistani bowler in a calendar year. He joined an elite list of Pakistani players which includes Imran Khan, Saqlain Mushtaq, Waqar Younis and Saeed Ajmal. He also picked up 23 wickets in the T20I matches across the calendar year, most by any bowler. He was given a close fight by England captain Joe Root, who scored 1708 runs in Test match cricket in 2021 for the Player of the Year honour.
Afridi’s dream of dismissing the Indian trio may come true in a matter of months as both India and Pakistan are once again scheduled to face in the group stages of the T20 World Cup in October. The 2022 edition will take place in Australia, where the home team will be the firm favourite to clinch the glory. No team has ever defended the T20 World Cup, so it remains to be seen will the hosts be able to stamp their authority or not.
In the meantime, the Indian trio struggle for momentum as Kohli recently relinquished his Test captaincy, while the other two, part of the domino are in the race to succeed him.
