Mushtaq Ahmed: “In the UAE, where he got so many of his wickets, on those dry pitches you had to bowl over 90 kph, because it gave you grip. That brought lbw and bat-pads into the game. Yasir was too quick, and South African pitches demand you bowl slower”
Image taken by: Bimal Mirwani
Pakistan legend Mushtaq Ahmed said fellow spinner Yasir Shah never really did well in South Africa since he bowled too quick.
He noted that while such tactics would work in conditions like the United Arab Emirates, it wasn’t as effective in South Africa since the ball won’t spin as much.
Yasir, who last played international cricket in July 2022, has mainly represented Pakistan in Tests, where he has taken 244 wickets in 48 matches at an average of 31.38.
“In the UAE, where he got so many of his wickets, on those dry pitches you had to bowl over 90 kph, because it gave you grip. That brought lbw and bat-pads into the game. Yasir was too quick, and South African pitches demand you bowl slower, sometimes as slow as less than 80 kph,” Mushtaq told ESPNcricinfo.
“For overspin, you have to reduce the speed and let it spin in the air. When it picks up those revolutions in the air, it gives you pace off the pitch naturally. When you bowl fast there, they don’t spin, you might as well be giving the batters throwdowns. And batters will never get out to that.”
The Pakistan team recently took on Australia in a white-ball series and won the ODIs 2-1 before being hammered 3-0 in the T20Is.
They then travelled to Zimbabwe and triumphed 2-1 in both the ODI and T20I series.
Pakistan are now in South Africa and lost the T20I series 2-0 before bouncing back to whitewash the Proteas 3-0 in the ODIs.
Next up will be the two-Test series, which starts on December 26 in Centurion.
Pakistan Squad for South Africa T20I Series: Mohammad Rizwan (captain and wicketkeeper), Abrar Ahmed, Babar Azam, Haris Rauf, Jahandad Khan, Abbas Afridi, Mohammad Hasnain, Muhammad Irfan Khan, Omair Bin Yousuf, Saim Ayub, Salman Ali Agha, Shaheen Shah Afridi, Sufiyan Muqeem, Tayyab Tahir and Usman Khan (wicketkeeper)
Pakistan Squad for South Africa ODI Series: Mohammad Rizwan (captain and wicketkeeper), Abdullah Shafique, Abrar Ahmed, Babar Azam, Haris Rauf, Kamran Ghulam, Mohammad Hasnain, Muhammad Irfan Khan, Naseem Shah, Saim Ayub, Salman Ali Agha, Shaheen Shah Afridi, Sufiyan Muqeem, Tayyab Tahir and Usman Khan (wicketkeeper)
Pakistan Squad for South Africa Test Series: Shan Masood (captain), Saud Shakeel (vice-captain), Aamer Jamal, Abdullah Shafique, Babar Azam, Haseebullah Khan (wicketkeeper), Kamran Ghulam, Khurram Shahzad, Mir Hamza, Mohammad Abbas, Mohammad Rizwan (wicketkeeper), Naseem Shah, Noman Ali, Saim Ayub and Salman Ali Agha
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