Shahid Afridi: “The performance of Shadab and Usama will be key. They need to start taking wickets in the middle overs. Iām hoping that Shadab will take wickets”
Image taken by: Bimal Mirwani
Former Pakistan captain Shahid Afridi has put spinners Shadab Khan and Usama Mir in his crosshairs as they have not been taking enough wickets in the middle overs.
The duo are in the team exactly for that reason, but have been failing to do their jobs for a couple of months, which has been a big problem for the men in green.
In the 2023 ICC Cricket World Cup, Shadab claimed two wickets in six matches at an average of 118.50 and an economy rate of 6.23.
As for Mir, he picked up four wickets in four games at an average of 62 and an economy rate of 7.08.
Given their ineffectiveness with the ball, Afridi urged the pair to start turning things around as they are an integral part of Pakistan’s bowling attack.
“The performance of Shadab and Usama will be key. They need to start taking wickets in the middle overs. Iām hoping that Shadab will take wickets,” he was quoted as saying by Geo Super.
Pakistan started the World Cup with back-to-back wins over the Netherland and Sri Lanka before they went on a four-game losing streak as they were defeated by India, Australia, Afghanistan and South Africa.
The men in green managed to rebound and keep their semi-final hopes alive with victories over Bangladesh and New Zealand.
However, they failed to make it to the final four and lost their last group stage game against England by 93 runs.
Pakistan Squad for 2023 ICC Cricket World Cup:Ā 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