Imad Wasim: “I think Pakistan should play a regular spinner be it Shadab [Khan], Abrar [Ahmed] or Usama [Mir]”
Image taken by: Bimal Mirwani
Imad Wasim believes Pakistan need to pick a regular spinner and gave them three choices – Shadab Khan, Abrar Ahmed and Usama Mir.
Shadab and Mir haven’t been in the best form lately as they both struggled to take wickets and conceded a lot of runs during the 2023 ICC Cricket World Cup.
Shadab, who is Pakistan’s first-choice spinner in limited overs cricket, took two wickets in six matches at an average of 118.50 and an economy rate of 6.23.
As for Mir, he finished with four wickets in four games at an average of 62 and an economy rate of 7.08.
Abrar, meanwhile, was a reserve player for the World Cup, but has shown plenty of promise in Test cricket thus far, claiming 38 wickets in six matches at an average of 31.07.
Interestingly, it should be noted that Imad didn’t suggest second-choice spinner Mohammad Nawaz in his list of options.
Like Shadab and Mir, Nawaz also had a disappointing campaign in the World Cup as he picked up two wickets in five games at an average of 111.50 and an economy rate of 5.89.
“I think Pakistan should play a regular spinner be it Shadab [Khan], Abrar [Ahmed] or Usama [Mir],” Imad was quoted as saying by Cricket Pakistan.
Pakistan triumphed in their first two matches against the Netherlands and Sri Lanka before suffering four losses in a row to India, Australia, Afghanistan and South Africa.
Despite bouncing back to defeat Bangladesh and New Zealand, they failed to make it through to the semi-finals.
The men in green concluded their campaign on a low as England thumped them by 93 runs.
Abrar will now represent Pakistan in their three-match Test series against Australia, but Shadab, Mir and Nawaz were not included in the squad.
The first Test between Pakistan and Australia begins 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
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