Pakistan leg-spinner Yasir Shah has issued a warning to Pakistan bowlers stating they shouldn’t take Virat Kohli easy in the upcoming Asia Cup 2022. Kohli hasn’t been in the best of forms in the recent past but taking him lightly would be the last mistake Pakistan would like to make.

The talisman has all the experience under his belt and he has proven his mettle on multiple occasions while playing in the big matches. In fact, Kohli had scored 57 runs off 49 balls in the two team’s previous meeting in the T20 World Cup 2021 in the UAE.

Kohli had helped India post a fighting score of 151 runs but his efforts had gone in vain as the Men in Blue had lost by 10 wickets.

Speaking to Paktv.tv, Yasir Shah said, “Don’t take Virat Kohli easy. Yes, he is not in form because he is struggling to score runs, but he is a world-class player and he can come back to form at any time.”

Meanwhile, Virat Kohli has produced great numbers while playing against Pakistan in the T20 format. Kohli has scored 311 runs in seven matches at an astonishing average of 77.75.

There is no doubt that Virat Kohli is going to hold the key for the Indian team as he is a vital cog in the team’s wheel. Kohli can take the game away and he has scored 3308 runs in 99 T20I matches at an average of 50.12.

On the other hand, Shaheen Shah Afridi has been ruled out of the Asia Cup due to a knee injury. India also has injury woes as their gun fast bowler Jasprit Bumrah will miss the multi-team tournament due to back injury while Harshal Patel has been sidelined due to a side strain.

India Squad for Asia Cup 2022: Rohit Sharma (c), KL Rahul, Virat Kohli, Suryakumar Yadav, Rishabh Pant, Dinesh Karthik, Hardik Pandya, Ravindra Jadeja, R. Ashwin, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Arshdeep Singh, Ravi Bishnoi, Avesh Khan, Deepak Hooda, Yuzvendra Chahal.

India will begin their Asia Cup 2022 campaign against arch-rivals Pakistan on August 28 at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium, Dubai.