Eoin Morgan: “Even with the blow of losing Naseem Shah, they have Shaheen Shah Afridi and Haris Rauf in the bowling attack”
Image taken by: Bimal Mirwani
Former England captain Eoin Morgan said Pakistan’s pace attack is still strong even though Naseem Shah is currently out of action with a shoulder injury.
Naseem suffered the injury during the Asia Cup and was subsequently ruled out of the 2023 ICC Cricket World Cup.
There is a possibility he will also miss Pakistan’s tour of Australia at the end of 2023 and the 2024 Pakistan Super League (PSL) as well.
Despite missing a key part of their fast bowling unit, Morgan noted that Pakistan still have two very lethal quicks in Shaheen Shah Afridi and Haris Rauf.
“Even with the blow of losing Naseem Shah, they have Shaheen Shah Afridi and Haris Rauf in the bowling attack,” he was quoted as saying by respected journalist Saj Sadiq on X, formerly known as Twitter.
Afridi and Rauf were recently in action in the World Cup, with the former taking 18 wickets in nine matches at an average of 26.72.
As for Rauf, he picked up 16 wickets in nine games at an average of 33.31.
Pakistan began by beating the Netherlands and Sri Lanka before suffering four straight defeats to India, Australia, Afghanistan and South Africa.
The men in green managed to bounce back with back-to-back wins over Bangladesh and New Zealand to keep their semi-final hopes alive.
However, they were unable to make it to the final four and ended up losing their last group stage game against England.
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