Nasser Hussain: “If you can clock 90mph as Mohammad Hasnain and Shaheen Shah Afridi can, then that is the sort of wicket-taking potential that will win this World Cup”
Image courtesy of: ESPNcricinfo
Ex-England captain Nasser Hussain has admitted that he is excited to see how Pakistan seamers Shaheen Shah Afridi and Mohammad Hasnain fare at the World Cup.
Both Afridi and Hasnain will be making their World Cup debuts and since they are just 19, Hussain is eager to see how they deal with the pressure that comes on the grandest stage of them all.
Afridi made his international debut last April and has represented Pakistan in all three formats since then.
He has taken 12 wickets in three Tests at an average of 31.41 and 19 wickets in 10 ODIs at an average of 19.36.
As for Twenty20 Internationals, he has claimed 13 wickets in nine games at an average of 19.46.
Hasnain made his international debut during the recent ODI series against Australia, where he took two wickets in three games at an average of 78.
Given that both of them are capable of bowling around 90mph, Hussain conceded that those abilities are “the sort of wicket-taking potential that will win this World Cup”.
“Absolutely. This is what Pakistan have always done from when Imran Khan picked Wasim Akram and Waqar Younis all those years ago,” he told PakPassion. “Pakistan always produces these players and the moment they play it’s like wow these lads have got something about them.
“This is what Pakistan do, they play them, they pick them, and they give them a chance. It doesn’t matter how old they are, it’s all about whether they are good enough. They don’t worry about their age or their lack of experience, they pick them and play them and as Michael Holding always says, facing pace does funny things to any batsman.
“If you have a bit of pace coming at you, you can do some silly things as a batsman. If you can clock 90mph as Mohammad Hasnain and Shaheen Shah Afridi can, then that is the sort of wicket-taking potential that will win this World Cup.”
Pakistan will begin their World Cup campaign against the West Indies in Nottingham on May 31.
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