Mahela Jayawardene: “Especially for quite a few opening batsmen, it will be a nightmare if Shaheen and Naseem bowl in tandem from both ends”
Image taken by: Bimal Mirwani
Legendary Sri Lanka batsman Mahela Jayawardene wants to see Pakistan fast bowler Naseem Shah bowling in tandem with Shaheen Shah Afridi.
Afridi is the leader of Pakistan’s pace attack, but has been out of action for the past couple of months with a knee injury.
He suffered the injury during the final of the 2022 T20 World Cup and subsequently missed the three-Test series against England, which Pakistan lost 3-0, the two-Test series against New Zealand, which finished as a 0-0 draw, and the three-match ODI series against the Black Caps, which the men in green lost 2-1.
But, with Afridi’s highly-anticipated comeback looming, Jayawardene is eager to see the 22-year-old form a deadly new-ball partnership with 19-year-old Naseem.
He acknowledged that the duo can cause a lot of problems for the opposition’s openers as they possess good speed and can swing the ball as well.
“Especially for quite a few opening batsmen, it will be a nightmare if Shaheen and Naseem bowl in tandem from both ends,” Jayawardene said on the ICC Review as quoted by A Sports.
Naseem was in great form throughout Pakistan’s home season as he took five wickets in the one Test he played against England.
He also featured in one Test match against New Zealand and picked up four wickets.
As for the ODI series, he claimed eight wickets in two games at an average of 14.37.