Legendary Pakistani fast bowler Waqar Younis raised concerns over Shaheen Shah Afridi's performance in the first two matches of the ongoing ICC Cricket World Cup 2023 in India.
Younis stressed that it is very important for the Pakistan team to identify and rectify the issues affecting Shaheen Afridi’s performance, as his team’s success in the Cricket World Cup 2023 heavily relies on his ability to consistently take early wickets.
Notably, Pakistan successfully chased down 344 runs, the biggest World Cup chase in the tournament's history, against Sri Lanka, thanks to the outstanding centuries from Mohammad Rizwan and Abdullah Shafique on October 10.
This win was Pakistan's second consecutive triumph in the ongoing ODI World Cup 2023 after their 81-run win over the Netherlands. Meanwhile, Pakistan's bowlers faced challenges during their last match, allowing Sri Lanka's Kusal Mendis and Sadeera Samarawickrama to score impressive centuries.
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Shaheen Afridi, in particular, had a tough day, conceding 66 runs in nine overs and managing to secure only one wicket. His performance in the first match against the Netherlands was also not so impressive, as he took just one wicket and conceded 37 runs in 7 overs.
Waqar Younis said on Star Sports: “Pakistan’s success has come when Shaheen really picks up early wickets and over the years, he’s done it many times and, uh, and he’s got capacity, capability, but at the moment he’s trying too hard.”
The former pacer continued, “He’s just falling all over the place, you know, bowling on the pads, outside the off stump he’s tried around the wicket over the wicket, nothing really worked for him, and I’m sure he will even sit back with Morne Morkel.”
Waqar feels Shaheen might be dealing with a niggle, and that’s why he was not seen at his best in the first two CWC 2023 matches for Pakistan. He explained, “They’ll probably work out what is going wrong. I think there might be, uh, some action problem. What if he’s carrying any niggle or anything? If he can fix this issue and with that left arm ball coming in, you know, early doors.”
Younis signed off by saying, “You know, against India, we’ll be needing his services at the most because he has done it, uh, against India a few matches previously. So, he’s an important member of the team, and I’m gonna just chip in for Shadab as well, not really finding the rhythm, not really finding the area where he needs to bowl. So, he’s also gonna sit down and chat about it.”
(With IANS Inputs)
