Harsha Bhogle: “How could they not be playing a player who’s so visibly gifted like Abdullah Shafique”
Image taken by: Bimal Mirwani
Respected cricket commentator Harsha Bhogle has urged Pakistan not to even consider dropping opening batsman Abdullah Shafique.
His comments come after Pakistan made a few tweaks with their opening pair in the 2023 ICC Cricket World Cup.
Shafique replaced Fakhar Zaman after the first game against the Netherlands and was one of the team’s best performers in the tournament as he amassed 336 runs in eight matches, which included a century and three fifties, at an average of 42.
While Imam-ul-Haq was the latest opener to be dropped as the men in green brought back Zaman, Bhogle feels that Shafique should be untouchable at the moment.
“How could they not be playing a player who’s so visibly gifted like Abdullah Shafique,” he told Cricbuzz as quoted by Cricket Pakistan.
Pakistan began their World Cup campaign with back-to-back wins over the Netherlands and Sri Lanka before losing their next four against India, Australia, Afghanistan and South Africa.
Despite fighting back to beat Bangladesh and New Zealand, they failed to qualify for the semi-finals.
To add insult to injury, the men in green 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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