Harsha Bhogle: “Looks like the news about Naseem Shah is worse than it seemed. It will be a huge loss for Pakistan if he misses out”
Image taken by: Bimal Mirwani
Harsha Bhogle, the well-known cricket commentator, knows “it will be a huge loss for Pakistan” now that fast bowler Naseem Shah has been ruled out of the 2023 ICC Cricket World Cup in India.
Naseem injured his bowling shoulder during the Asia Cup and could potentially miss Pakistan’s tour of Australia at the end of the year and the 2024 Pakistan Super League (PSL) as well.
The 20-year-old has become an indispensable member of the pace attack as he found his rhythm lately and was taking wickets regularly.
“Looks like the news about Naseem Shah is worse than it seemed. It will be a huge loss for Pakistan if he misses out,” Bhogle said on X, formerly known as Twitter.
Naseem recently took nine wickets in two Tests against Sri Lanka at an average of 23.
He followed that up with two wickets in two ODIs against Afghanistan at an average of 28.50.
As for the Asia Cup, he finished with seven wickets in four games at an average of 20.
Pakistan kickstarted their campaign with a 238-run win over Nepal before sharing one point apiece with India as their match was washed out.
Having booked their spot in the Super Fours, the men in green defeated Bangladesh by seven wickets.
However, things started to go wrong for them after this as they lost to India by 228 runs. It was also the game where Naseem got injured, along with Haris Rauf, who sustained a right flank issue but is expected to be fit in time for the World Cup.
Pakistan still had a chance to reach the Asia Cup final, but they failed to do so after losing to Sri Lanka by two wickets via the Duckworth–Lewis–Stern method (DLS) method.
The World Cup will start on October 5, with Pakistan’s first game against the Netherlands taking place a day later 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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