Mohammad Sami: “Pakistan needed Shaheen Afridi in their side, we were lacking a strike bowler”
Image taken by: Bimal Mirwani
Former fast bowler Mohammad Sami said left-arm seamer Shaheen Shah Afridi is the only proper “strike bowler” Pakistan have got.
The 22-year-old has established a reputation for himself as one of the deadliest bowlers in all three formats of the game as he has a variety of deliveries he can utilise to take wickets. On top of that, he can bowl at speeds of 150 kph, swings the ball both ways and gets extra bounce due to his height of 6 ft 6 in.
While the men in green do have a number of other bowlers who have shown a lot of promise, including Haris Rauf, Naseem Shah and Hasan Ali, Sami feels that none of them are strike bowlers like Afridi.
“Pakistan needed Shaheen Afridi in their side, we were lacking a strike bowler,” he was quoted as saying by Cricket Pakistan.
READ MORE: Mohammad Sami reveals Pakistan’s perfect pace attack
Afridi is currently out of action with a knee injury he picked up in the 2022 T20 World Cup final.
The issue caused him to miss the three-Test series against England, which Pakistan lost 3-0, and the two-Test series against New Zealand.
He was also not selected for the ongoing three-match ODI series against the Black Caps.
Pakistan won the first ODI by six wickets on Monday.
The second ODI will take place on Wednesday in Karachi.
Pakistan Squad for New Zealand ODI series: Babar Azam (capt), Fakhar Zaman, Haris Rauf, Haris Sohail, Imam-ul-Haq, Kamran Ghulam, Mohammad Hasnain, Mohammad Nawaz, Mohammad Rizwan (wk), Mohammad Wasim, Naseem Shah, Agha Salman, Shahnawaz Dahani, Shan Masood, Tayyab Tahir, Usama Mir