Shaheen Shah Afridi: “Now that he has made a comeback in the ODIs, he has shown that he has the skill; he can reverse swing the ball very well”
Image taken by: Bimal Mirwani
Pakistan ODI captain Shaheen Shah Afridi has lauded pace bowler Mohammad Wasim Jnr, saying he can “reverse swing the ball very well”.
Wasim Jnr has seen increased game time recently. In the ODI series against South Africa, he claimed one wicket in his lone outing at an average of 48.
He improved markedly against Sri Lanka, taking four wickets across two ODIs at an average of 24.25.
As for the T20I tri-series against Sri Lanka and Zimbabwe, the 24-year-old picked up one wicket in three games at an average of 91 and an economy rate of 7.58.
He quickly rebounded during Pakistan’s T20I tour of Sri Lanka, securing five wickets in two games at an average of 12.20 and an economy rate of 11.43.
“Now that he has made a comeback in the ODIs, he has shown that he has the skill; he can reverse swing the ball very well,” Afridi was quoted as saying by A Sports.
Wasim earned a spot in Pakistan’s team for the ongoing three-match T20I series against Australia in Lahore, though he sat out the opening game.
While he made the cut for the Australia series, he was omitted for the 2026 T20 World Cup.
Pakistan will kick off their T20 World Cup campaign against the Netherlands on February 7 in Colombo.
Pakistan Squad for T20I series against Australia: Salman Ali Agha (captain), Abrar Ahmed, Babar Azam, Faheem Ashraf, Fakhar Zaman, Khawaja Nafay (wicketkeeper), Mohammad Nawaz, Salman Mirza, Mohammad Wasim Jnr, Naseem Shah, Sahibzada Farhan (wicketkeeper), Saim Ayub, Shaheen Shah Afridi, Shadab Khan, Usman Khan (wicketkeeper), Usman Tariq
Pakistan Squad for 2026 T20 World Cup: Salman Ali Agha (captain), Abrar Ahmed, Babar Azam, Faheem Ashraf, Fakhar Zaman, Khawaja Nafay (wicketkeeper), Mohammad Nawaz, Salman Mirza, Naseem Shah, Sahibzada Farhan (wicketkeeper), Saim Ayub, Shaheen Shah Afridi, Shadab Khan, Usman Khan (wicketkeeper), Usman Tariq