Umar Gul: “He needs to work hard in the death overs and increase his focus in that area”
Image taken by: Bimal Mirwani
Umar Gul has called on Pakistan pace maestro Shaheen Shah Afridi to focus on improving his death bowling as it is an area of concern for the 23-year-old.
Afridi is superb when it comes to bowling with the new ball, but in the final overs of a match, he has a tendency to leak runs.
Given how important the youngster is to the men in green, Gul wants to see him put in the hard work to become a better death bowler.
“He needs to work hard in the death overs and increase his focus in that area,” he told Cricket Pakistan.
Afridi recently took six wickets in two Tests against Sri Lanka at an average of 37.33.
He followed that up with six wickets in three ODIs against Afghanistan at an average of 16.33.
Currently, he is in action for Pakistan in the Asia Cup, where he has picked up six wickets in two matches at an average of 10.33.
He took two wickets against Nepal before going on to finish with figures of 4-35 off his 10 overs against India.
The men in green beat Nepal by 238 runs, while their clash with India was rained off.
Having made it through to the Super Four stage, Pakistan will take on Bangladesh on September 6 in Lahore.
They will then face India once again on September 10.
Pakistan Squad for 2023 Asia Cup:Â Babar Azam (capt), Shadab Khan, Mohammad Rizwan (wk), Saud Shakeel, Fakhar Zaman, Abdullah Shafique, Imam-ul-Haq, Saud Shakeel, Salman Ali Agha, Iftikhar Ahmed, Mohammad Nawaz, Usama Mir, Haris Rauf, Naseem Shah, Shaheen Shah Afridi, Mohammad Haris (wk), Faheem Ashraf, Mohammad Wasim Jnr.
Travelling reserve: Tayyab Tahir