Shoaib Akhtar: “This pace battery reminds me of the old days… reminds me of that era of two Ws (Waqar and Wasim). They are very confident and have the mindset of taking wickets”
Image taken by: Bimal Mirwani
Shoaib Akhtar sees lots of potential in the Pakistan pace trio of Shaheen Shah Afridi, Naseem Shah and Haris Rauf, saying they remind him of the iconic duo of Wasim Akram and Waqar Younis.
Wasim and Waqar formed one of the most formidable fast bowling partnerships in the history of the sport as they took over 1,700 wickets between them in Tests and ODIs.
While Afridi, Naseem and Rauf are still in the early stages of their international careers, Akhtar acknowledged the impact they have made and feels they could go on to form Pakistan’s next lethal partnership.
“This pace battery reminds me of the old days… reminds me of that era of two Ws (Waqar and Wasim). They are very confident and have the mindset of taking wickets,” he told Star Sports as quoted by Cricket Pakistan.
Afridi and Rauf are playing in the 2023 ICC Cricket World Cup right now and have taken 10 wickets in five games at an average of 25.10 and eight wickets at an average of 35.75 respectively.
Naseem was ruled out of the tournament after injuring his shoulder during the Asia Cup.
Pakistan are currently in a spot of bother in the World Cup as they lost three games in a row – against India, Australia and Afghanistan – after winning their first two matches against the Netherlands and Sri Lanka.
They will now face South Africa on October 27 in Chennai.
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