Grant Bradburn: “A cricketer like Abid Ali can be a valuable addition to the national team”
Image taken by: Bimal Mirwani
Grant Bradburn, the Pakistan head coach, said having an experienced player like opening batsman Abid Ali in the team can bring a lot of value.
Abid has enjoyed a lot of success in Test cricket to date, scoring 1,180 runs in 16 matches, which includes four centuries and three fifties, at an average of 49.16.
However, his run as Pakistan’s first-choice opener was brought to an abrupt end when he suffered chest pains while batting during Central Punjab’s Quaid-e-Azam Trophy match against Khyber Pakhtunkhwa in December 2021.
Following this, he was unfortunately diagnosed with Acute Coronary Syndrome (ACS) and had to undergo two angioplasty surgeries.
While he has not played international cricket in close to two years, Bradburn is considering recalling the 35-year-old should he perform well in domestic cricket.
“A cricketer like Abid Ali can be a valuable addition to the national team,” he was quoted as saying by Cricket Pakistan.
Pakistan recently defeated Sri Lanka 2-0 in a Test series before going on to take down Afghanistan 3-0 in an ODI series.
The men in green are now in action in the Asia Cup, where they started their campaign with a brutal 238-run win over Nepal.
They were then forced to share one point apiece with India as their match was rained off after the men in blue were bowled out for 266.
Despite this, Pakistan qualified for the Super Four stage and continued to impress as they registered a comfortable seven-wicket win over Bangladesh in Lahore.
Their next match will be a rematch against India on September 10 in Colombo.
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