Mohammad Amir: “You need wickets in the middle overs and he is the kind of bowler who is in form and taking wickets. He can bat a bit too”
Image taken by: Bimal Mirwani
Left-arm pace bowler Mohammad Amir believes Pakistan should include spinner Usama Mir in their playing XI more often as he is the man who gets wickets in the middle overs.
Mir was Pakistan’s most successful spinner in the 2023 ICC Cricket World Cup, taking four wickets in four matches at an average of 62 and an economy rate of 7.08.
Since he performed better than first-choice spinners Shadab Khan and Mohammad Nawaz, who claimed two wickets in six and five games respectively, Amir feels the 27-year-old from Sialkot deserves more chances in the future.
“You need wickets in the middle overs and he is the kind of bowler who is in form and taking wickets. He can bat a bit too,” he was quoted as saying by Cricket Pakistan.
Pakistan triumphed in their first two World Cup matches against the Netherlands and Sri Lanka before faltering against India, Australia, Afghanistan and South Africa.
They stopped their four-game losing streak and kept themselves alive in the race to the semi-finals with back-to-back wins over Bangladesh and New Zealand.
However, they failed to reach the last four and to add insult to injury, they lost their final group stage game against England by 93 runs.
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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