England’s stand-in captain Ben Stokes heaped praise on the pacer, Saqib Mahmood, for his impressive performance against Pakistan, saying their breakout bowling star will force the team’s more established stars to “look over their shoulder” for their places in the team.
After Eoin Morgan’s first-choice ODI squad was sent into isolation following the COVID-19 outbreak at the camp ahead of the three-match ODI series against Pakistan, Mahmood was recalled to the side having been available as one of the more experienced options at that time.
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The 24-year-old grabbed the opportunity with both hands and brilliantly led the young bowling attack against Pakistan despite playing only 4 ODIs before the home series – where the pacer returned with the impressive figures of 4/42 and 2/21 in the first two ODIs, dismissing opposition captain Babar Azam on both occasions.
His brilliant performance with the ball has already helped England seal the ODI series 2-0 and if he manages to come up with another strong show in the final ODI at Edgbaston on Tuesday, July 13, it will boost his chances further to break it into the World Cup champions' star-studded line-up.
Stokes said ahead of the final ODI, “With the squad getting wiped out, the one positive was that we could see guys come who have been on the fringe and, for Saqi, coming in and being the senior bowler has done him the world of good. He hasn't been fazed by anything, he's been taking the new ball and I've asked him to come back on at crucial times in games where he's performed really well.”
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He added, “So from an individual point of view it's done him the world of good and from an England point of view, it's another player that lads will have to look over their shoulder for. Saqi seems to always want the ball in his hands. He loves every minute of it. He loves to be in those situations where he's expected to be the man to change a game and he's done it every time he's bowled for me this series.”
The all-rounder signed off by saying, “Competition for places is always a great thing to have at any level so when you get a completely new squad and they have put in such performances, that really adds to the expectation that gets put on to the main guys' shoulders when they come back.”
(With AFP Inputs)
