Ravi Bopara: “Someone like him, who’s played international cricket, you got to give them a run, you can’t just drop them after four to five games. They’ve got to have a long run. They deserve to have a long run when they’ve played [so] much cricket”
Image taken by: Bimal Mirwani
Karachi Kings assistant coach Ravi Bopara believes it would be wrong for Pakistan to drop spin-bowling all-rounder Mohammad Nawaz after a few poor performances.
Nawaz hasn’t been in the best of form lately as he has struggled to take wickets consistently.
His performance in the 2024 Pakistan Super League (PSL) didn’t help his cause as he only took two wickets in eight matches for the Kings at a disappointing average of 88 and an economy rate of 8.80.
As for his batting, he scored 88 runs at an average of 17.60 and a strike-rate of 125.71.
With the 2024 T20 World Cup scheduled to be held in June, it remains to be seen if the selectors continue sticking with Nawaz or opt for other spin options.
Bopara feels that the men in green should keep on backing the 29-year-old as he is confident the Rawalpindi native will rediscover his form soon.
“Nawaz has been playing T20 cricket for many many years, playing the PSL from the day it started,” the former England all-rounder was quoted as saying by A Sports.
“So, he’s built, he [has] credit in the bank. Someone like him, who’s played international cricket, you got to give them a run, you can’t just drop them after four to five games. They’ve got to have a long run. They deserve to have a long run when they’ve played [so] much cricket.
“[The law of] averages say that people at that level at international cricket, they come good at some stage. And, you got to back them long enough to give them a chance to get to that stage.”
Karachi Kings Squad for PSL 9: Shan Masood (captain), Kieron Pollard, Daniel Sams, Mohammad Nawaz, James Vince, Hasan Ali, Tim Seifert, Shoaib Malik, Tabraiz Shamsi, Mir Hamza, Muhammad Akhlaq, Mohammad Amir Khan, Anwar Ali, Arafat Minhas, Irfan Khan, Sirajuddin, Saad Baig, Jamie Overton, Leus du Plooy, Mohammad Rohid, Zahid Mahmood
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