Shahid Afridi: “Sometimes, if a fast bowler is not bowling well and is being bashed, then you need a bowler like Imad Wasim who can be a very dangerous bowler with the new ball”
Image taken by: Bimal Mirwani
Former Pakistan power-hitter Shahid Afridi believes spin-bowling all-rounder Imad Wasim could be useful in ODIs as he is “a very dangerous bowler with the new ball.”
In addition to taking wickets and restricting the flow of runs, which is Imad’s job as a bowler, he is also a very handy lower order batsman who can keep the scoreboard ticking or unleash a volley of big shots.
It should be noted that Imad made his international comeback in a T20I series against New Zealand in April 2023, but has not played ODIs since November 2020.
Afridi feels that Pakistan need to consider picking the 34-year-old, especially considering how inconsistent their current spinners have been over the past couple of months.
“Sometimes, if a fast bowler is not bowling well and is being bashed, then you need a bowler like Imad Wasim who can be a very dangerous bowler with the new ball,” he was quoted as saying by Cricket Pakistan.
Imad was recently in action in the Caribbean Premier League (CPL), where he took 14 wickets in 11 matches for the Jamaica Tallawahs at an average of 19.71 and an economy rate of 7.16.
He was also the third-highest run-scorer in the tournament with 313 runs, which included two fifties, at an average of 39.12 and a strike-rate of 129.87.
The left-arm spinner was not picked in Pakistan’s squad for the 2023 ICC Cricket World Cup, where the men in green failed to make it to the semi-finals.
After winning their first two games against the Netherlands and Sri Lanka, Pakistan lost their next four games against India, Australia, Afghanistan and South Africa.
Despite bouncing back to beat Bangladesh and New Zealand, they could not make it to the final four and ended up losing their final group stage game against England by 93 runs.
Pakistan Squad for 2023 ICC Cricket World Cup:Â 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