Pakistan-origin bowler Shahid Shabbir and Afghanistan-based spinner Zainullah shared their experience of bowling to star batters, including Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, Shubman Gill and others during the nets session before India’s Champions Trophy clash against Bangladesh on Thursday.

After landing in Dubai on Saturday, India stepped up its preparations before beginning its Champions Trophy campaign against Bangladesh. The Indian team has put in the hard yards in the nets, trying to get every aspect of their game right before taking the first step towards the title.
Shabbir and Zainullah featured as the net bowlers to help Indian batters fine-tune their strokeplay. Shabbir shared his experience of bowling against Virat and Rohit. He revealed that Virat initially struggled against away swing but batted well on the second day. He also revealed that he sent Rishabh Pant’s bail flying in the air on the second day of the training session.
“Virat Kohli struggled on the first day but played well on the second day. He struggled while facing the away swing. He appreciated me. Rohit was batting like he does on the field,” he told ANI.
“On the second day, I got Rishabh Pant bowled. I felt happy. He appreciated me and said I bowled very well,” he added.
For Zainullah, bowling against Virat was a dream come true moment. The ‘Chinaman’ disclosed that he was praised by India spin duo Varun Chakravarthy and Kuldeep Yadav.
“When I was bowling, the wicket was quite simple. I planned to help them play for a long time and practice. It is everyone’s dream to bowl against Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma. It was a dream come true for me. Kuldeep and Varun praised me after the session,” he said.
India: Rohit Sharma (c), Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, KL Rahul, Rishabh Pant, Hardik Pandya, Axar Patel, Washington Sundar, Kuldeep Yadav, Harshit Rana, Mohd. Shami, Arshdeep Singh, Ravindra Jadeja, Varun Chakaravarthy.
Bangladesh: Nazmul Hossain Shanto (c), Soumya Sarkar, Tanzid Hasan, Tawhid Hridoy, Mushfiqur Rahim, MD Mahmud Ullah, Jaker Ali Anik, Mehidy Hasan Miraz, Rishad Hossain, Taskin Ahmed, Mustafizur Rahman, Parvez Hossain Emon, Nasum Ahmed, Tanzim Hasan Sakib, Nahid Rana.-ANI