Umar Gul: “The way he handles the new ball and efficiently picks up wickets augments the team’s hopes for him”
Image taken by: Bimal Mirwani
Umar Gul said Pakistan has high hopes for pace spearhead Shaheen Shah Afridi since he has developed a habit of taking wickets with the new ball.
Afridi has established his reputation as a bowler to be fearful of since he can hit speeds of 150 kph, swing the ball both ways and get extra bounce due to his height.
Recently, the 23-year-old 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.
“The way he handles the new ball and efficiently picks up wickets augments the team’s hopes for him,” Gul told Cricket Pakistan.
Afridi latest assignment saw him represent Pakistan in the Asia Cup, where he claimed 10 wickets in five matches at an average 23.50.
Pakistan started the tournament on a high note that they demolished Nepal by 238 runs, shared one point with India as their match was rained off, and took down Bangladesh by seven wickets.
A 228-run loss to India followed before the men in green lost to Sri Lanka by two wickets via the Duckworth–Lewis–Stern method (DLS) method, which led to them missing out on a spot in the Asia Cup final and being eliminated from the competition.
Pakistan will now feature in the 2023 ICC Cricket World Cup in India, which gets underway on October 5.
Their opening match will be against the Netherlands on October 6 in Hyderabad.
Pakistan Squad for 2023 ICC Cricket World Cup: Fakhar Zaman, Imam-ul-Haq, Abdullah Shafique, Babar Azam (capt), Mohammad Rizwan, Saud Shakeel, Iftikhar Ahmed, Salman Ali Agha, Shadab Khan, Usama Mir, Mohammad Nawaz, Shaheen Shah Afridi, Haris Rauf, Mohammad Wasim Jnr, Hasan Ali
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