Umar Gul: “For the last few years, we have had a great bowling attack in Shaheen Afridi, Haris Rauf and Naseem Shah”
Image taken by: Bimal Mirwani
Newly-appointed Pakistan fast bowling coach Umar Gul picked Shaheen Shah Afridi, Naseem Shah and Haris Rauf as the three bowlers that form the national team’s “great bowling attack.”
He noted that for the past few years, the trio have been doing exceptionally well and have supported each other brilliantly.
All three of them are first-choice picks in limited overs cricket, while Afridi and Naseem are Pakistan’s go-to seamers in Test cricket.
“For the last few years, we have had a great bowling attack in Shaheen Afridi, Haris Rauf and Naseem Shah,” Gul was quoted as saying by Cricket Pakistan.
In the recent 2023 ICC Cricket World Cup, Afridi took 18 wickets in nine matches at an average of 26.72, while Rauf finished with 16 wickets in nine games at an average of 33.31.
Naseem, however, didn’t feature in the tournament as he suffered a shoulder injury during the Asia Cup.
Pakistan won their first two matches against the Netherlands and Sri Lanka before stumbling against India, Australia, Afghanistan and South Africa.
Even though they fought back to defeat Bangladesh and New Zealand, they failed to advance to the semi-finals.
The men in green concluded their campaign in dismal fashion as England crushed them by 93 runs.
Afridi will now play in Pakistan’s three-match Test series against Australia, while Naseem was not selected since he is still recovering from his shoulder injury.
As for Rauf, he was set to be picked, but pulled out due to concerns about his workload.
The first Test between Pakistan and Australia will begin on December 14 in Perth.
Pakistan Squad for Australia Test Series: 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