Shahid Afridi: “Babar (Azam), (Mohammad) Rizwan, Fakhar (Zaman), Shaheen (Afridi), Naseem Shah, Haris Rauf, Shadab (Khan) – all of them play an important role and will be key [for Pakistan] at the World Cup”
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Former Pakistan captain Shahid Afridi believes limited overs skipper Babar Azam, Mohammad Rizwan, Fakhar Zaman, Shaheen Shah Afridi, Naseem Shah, Haris Rauf and Shadab Khan will “play an important role” during the 2024 T20 World Cup.
Azam, Rizwan and Zaman will be expected to fire with the bat, while Afridi, Naseem and Rauf are Pakistan’s go-to fast bowlers, along with Mohammad Amir.
As for Shadab, he is likely to be the men in green’s first-choice spinner throughout the T20 World Cup, even though his form leading into the tournament has been quite turbulent.
Afridi noted that all seven players have to stand up and make their presence felt in the competition if Pakistan want to triumph and lift the coveted trophy.
“All players in the team are important. But if you look at the performances in the recent past, Babar (Azam), (Mohammad) Rizwan, Fakhar (Zaman), Shaheen (Afridi), Naseem Shah, Haris Rauf, Shadab (Khan) – all of them play an important role and will be key [for Pakistan] at the World Cup,” he was quoted as saying by Cricket Pakistan.
Pakistan recently played a five-match T20I series against New Zealand and three-match T20I series against Ireland, which ended as a 2-2 draw and 2-1 in favour of the men in green.
They then took on England in four T20Is and were beaten 2-0.
Pakistan’s first T20 World Cup game will be against the United States of America in Dallas on June 6.
Pakistan Squad for 2024 T20 World Cup: Babar Azam (capt), Saim Ayub, Mohammad Rizwan (wk), Fakhar Zaman, Azam Khan (wk), Usman Khan, Iftikhar Ahmed, Imad Wasim, Shaheen Shah Afridi, Shadab Khan, Mohammad Amir, Abbas Afridi, Naseem Shah, Haris Rauf, Abrar Ahmed
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