DUBAI: Former Sri Lankan captain Mahela Jayawardene has lauded Pakistan’s fierce pace battery, saying that the bowling attack will look much stronger during T20 World Cup 2022 with Shaheen Afridi coming back into the side.
“That Pakistan attack will look much stronger with Shaheen Afridi back as well, and the way Haris Rauf bowled. He bowled quickly,” he said in the latest episode of ICC Review.
Shaheen Afridi is currently on his way to full recovery before the World Cup as he has been undergoing rehabilitation in London after facing a knee injury during the team’s Test tour of Sri Lanka in July. He missed out on Asia Cup 2022 and has also been rested for the T20I home series against England.
Jayawardene stated that he was impressed by the young pacer Naseem Shah for his skills, especially the way he swung the ball with that much speed.
“Naseem has been brilliant, I was really impressed by the way he went about things. The skills, especially bringing the ball back into the right-handers, the way he swung the ball with that kind of pace,” said the former Sri Lankan star.
The fast bowling duo of Naseem and Shaheen, he claimed, would be lethal on Australian pitches and pose a massive threat to many opening batters during the t20 World Cup.
“In Australian conditions, those guys will be a handful. Especially for quite a few opening batsmen, it will be a nightmare if Shaheen and Naseem bowl in tandem from both ends.” he maintained.
Naseem’s emergence in T20I cricket has been credited to his phenomenal run in the Asia Cup in the absence of the team’s main strike bowler Shaheen. He took seven crucial wickets throughout the tournament.
It is apropos to mention that the Green Shirts will start their ICC T20 World Cup 2022 campaign against arch-rivals India on October 23 at the iconic Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG).
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