Mark Butcher: “I think they might have to be a little smart here. Iād play Mohammad Nawaz here with Usama Mir, if they are going to go with double spin”
Image taken by: Bimal Mirwani
Former England captain Mark Butcher believes that if Pakistan want to play two spinners in a limited overs match, they should choose Usama Mir and Mohammad Nawaz.
Butcher’s comments are bound to cause plenty of discussion, especially since he didn’t pick Shadab Khan, who is Pakistan’s first-choice spinner in white-ball cricket.
The reason he opted not to select the 25-year-old is due to his poor form, which has seen him fail to take wickets regularly.
“I think they might have to be a little smart here. Iād play Mohammad Nawaz here with Usama Mir, if they are going to go with double spin,” Butcher was quoted as saying by Geo Super.
In the 2023 ICC Cricket World Cup, none of the three spinners did very well, with Shadab picking up two wickets in six games at an average of 118.50 and an economy rate of 6.23.
Nawaz took two wickets in five matches at an average of 111.50 and an economy rate of 5.89.
As for Mir, he claimed four wickets in four games at an average of 62 and an economy rate of 7.08.
Pakistan started their World Cup campaign with victories over the Netherlands and Sri Lanka before falling to India, Australia, Afghanistan and South Africa.
They avoided being eliminated by defeating Bangladesh and New Zealand, which has kept them in the hunt for a semi-final spot.
However, they fell short of making it to the final four and lost their last group stage match against England by 93 runs.
All three spinners haven’t been picked for Pakistan’s upcoming tour of Australia, which will consist of three Test matches and get underway on December 14.
Pakistan Squad for Australia Test Series:Ā Shan Masood (captain), Aamer Jamal, Abdullah Shafique, Abrar Ahmed, Babar Azam, Faheem Ashraf, Hasan Ali, Imam-ul-Haq, Khurram Shahzad, Mir Hamza, Mohammad Rizwan (wk), Mohammad Wasim Jnr, Noman Ali, Saim Ayub, Salman Ali Agha, Sarfaraz Ahmed (wk), Saud Shakeel and Shaheen Shah Afridi