Legendary Pakistani seamer Waqar Younis opined that maverick pacer Shaheen Shah Afridi to take a page from Jasprit Bumrah’s book following the tall seamer’s struggles at the ongoing ICC ODI World Cup 2023.
The menacing pacer hasn’t really found his feet following his return from injury and has been taken for runs ever since the beginning of the showpiece event.
ICC World Cup: SCHEDULE | RESULTS | POINTS TABLE | MOST RUNS | MOST WICKETS
“I don’t know if there is a problem with his fitness,” Waqar began.
“The missing link in his bowling is discipline and he is over trying to get wickets,” the seam legend continued.
“When you do the same thing again and again like Shaheen is bowling to get his yorker going, then batsmen know that and they are ready for it,” he said.
Waqar heaped praise on Indian pacer Bumrah as he said, “Bumrah is creating pressure and his line is top of the off stump. He bowled so well against Pakistan and created pressure to get wickets.”
Waqar also touched up on the missing piece in Pakistan’s threatening bowling attack as 20-year-old Naseem Shah, Afridi’s strike bowling partner, recovers from an injury.
“Naseem is a good bowler and doesn’t give many runs away,” Waqar opined.
He went on to add that the combination works well as Shah tends to heap pressure on the batsmen who try to swing their willow and suffer a dismissal.
“When Naseem creates pressure, batsmen take chances with other bowlers and they get wickets,” Waqar elucidated.
However, he also said that the absence of Shah can’t be singled out as the reason for the Pakistani pace attack’s shortcomings and said that the problem lies in the fact that the seamers are trying to overdo stuff instead of sticking to the basics.
“I don’t think it’s because of missing just one bowler, but it’s because they are not keeping it simple.”
Comments
0 comment