Iqbal Qasim: “They seem fatigued, their pace has dropped, and they are struggling to take wickets”
Image taken by: Bimal Mirwani
Former Pakistan left-arm spinner Iqbal Qasim has voiced his concern about the pace duo of Shaheen Shah Afridi and Naseem Shah, saying “their pace has dropped”.
Qasim isn’t the first ex-cricketer to say this as many others have made the same observation.
The worrying part about Afridi and Naseem’s decreasing bowling speed is the fact that they are supposed to be Pakistan’s pace spearheads in all three formats.
During the recent Test series against Bangladesh, they only played one out of the two games, while in the three-Test series against England, both of them only featured in the first Test before being removed from the squad.
What makes the matter worse is they haven’t been taking a lot of wickets lately, which is something that hasn’t gone unnoticed.
“They seem fatigued, their pace has dropped, and they are struggling to take wickets,” Qasim told Cricket Pakistan.
Afridi and Naseem are both in action in Pakistan’s limited overs series against Australia, which consists of three ODIs and three T20Is.
In the ODI series, Afridi took eight wickets at an average of 12.62, while Naseem claimed five wickets at an average of 31.60.
As for the ongoing T20I series, Afridi has gone wicketless in two games, while Naseem has picked up one wicket at an average of 81.
Australia hold an unassailable 2-0 lead going into the third T20I, which will be held on November 18 in Hobart.
Once their tour of Australia concludes, Pakistan will travel to Zimbabwe to play three ODIs and three T20Is from November 24 to December 5.
Pakistan Squad for Australia ODI Series: Aamer Jamal, Abdullah Shafique, Arafat Minhas, Babar Azam, Faisal Akram, Haris Rauf, Haseebullah Khan (wicketkeeper), Kamran Ghulam, Mohammad Hasnain, Mohammad Rizwan (captain and wicketkeeper), Irfan Khan, Naseem Shah, Saim Ayub, Salman Ali Agha, Shaheen Shah Afridi
Pakistan Squad for Australia T20I Series: Arafat Minhas, Babar Azam, Haris Rauf, Haseebullah Khan, Jahandad Khan, Abbas Afridi, Mohammad Rizwan (captain and wicketkeeper), Irfan Khan, Naseem Shah, Omair Bin Yousuf, Sahibzada Farhan, Salman Ali Agha, Shaheen Shah Afridi, Sufiyan Muqeem, Usman Khan
Pakistan Squad for Zimbabwe ODI Series: Aamer Jamal, Abdullah Shafique, Abrar Ahmed, Ahmed Daniyal, Faisal Akram, Haris Rauf, Haseebullah Khan (wicketkeeper), Kamran Ghulam, Mohammad Hasnain, Mohammad Rizwan (captain and wicketkeeper), Irfan Khan, Saim Ayub, Salman Ali Agha, Shahnawaz Dahani, Tayyab Tahir
Pakistan Squad for Zimbabwe T20I Series: Ahmed Daniyal, Arafat Minhas, Haris Rauf, Haseebullah Khan (wicketkeeper), Jahandad Khan, Abbas Afridi, Mohammad Hasnain, Irfan Khan, Omair bin Yousuf, Qasim Akram, Sahibzada Farhan, Salman Ali Agha, Sufiyan Muqeem, Tayyab Tahir, Usman Khan