Umar Gul: “These are our best bowlers for the World Cup. They are Shaheen Afridi, Naseem Shah, Haris Rauf, Ihsanullah and Mohammad Wasim Jnr”
Image taken by: Bimal Mirwani
Umar Gul believes Shaheen Shah Afridi, Naseem Shah, Haris Rauf, Ihsanullah and Mohammad Wasim Jnr are the five players that should comprise Pakistan’s pace attack for the 2023 ICC Cricket World Cup in India.
He noted that they are the “best bowlers” in Pakistan right now and should be selected for the mega event.
Afridi, Naseem and Rauf have solid ODI experience, but Ihsanullah and Wasim Jnr are still in the infancy stages of their careers when it comes to the 50-over format.
Nonetheless, Gul reiterated that he would pick these five speedsters for the World Cup.
“If you talk about our bowling, the pace attack that we had during the New Zealand series should be retained and these are our best bowlers for the World Cup. They are Shaheen Afridi, Naseem Shah, Haris Rauf, Ihsanullah and Mohammad Wasim Jnr,” he told Cricket Pakistan.
Pakistan recently beat Sri Lanka 2-0 in a Test series before whitewashing Afghanistan 3-0 in an ODI series.
They are now taking part in the Asia Cup, where they thumped Nepal by 238 runs, shared one point apiece with India after their match was rained off, and pummelled Bangladesh by seven wickets.Â
Pakistan’s next match will be a Super Four showdown 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