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Cricket Players‘He is not Chahal or Rashid, he's not your wicket-taker’: Ex-IND batter's warning for Pakistan ahead of Asia Cup 2022
Pakistan will heavily depend on their skipper Babar Azam, who is also the number one T20I batter at the moment.
The stage is set, the fans are ready as heavyweights India are all set to kick-off their Asia Cup campaign against arch rivals Pakistan in Dubai on Sunday. Virat Kohli, who has been out of action for over a month, is all set to make a return and he will join the likes of Rohit Sharma and KL Rahul to form India's formidable top-order. Hardik Pandya, who had a sensational Indian Premier League, will be holding fort in the all-round department, while Yuzvendra Chahal and R Ashwin, the Rajasthan Royals duo, are expected to spearhead the spin attack.
One area where India looks slightly weak is the pace department, where big names such as Jasprit Bumrah and Mohammed Shami are not present. Bhuvneshwar Kumar, the most experienced seamer in the Indian squad, will instead lead the charge and hope for good support from youngsters Arshdeep Singh and Avesh Khan.
Pakistan, on the other hand, will heavily depend on their skipper Babar Azam, who is also the number one T20I batter at the moment. Apart from Babar, Mohammad Rizwan and Fakhar Zaman are two big names, who will hold the key for Pakistan in their batting department.
Assessing the Pakistan squad assembled for the continental tournament, former India cricketer Aakash Chopra highlighted plenty of loopholes, which he feels can hurt Pakistan in their campaign.
In a video shared on his YouTube channel, Chopra began by pointing the lack of wicket-taking spinners in the Pakistan line-up. "Firstly, they don't have a wicket-taking spinner. They have a lot of spin options but who will pick up wickets? All of them are restrictive. You can see Shadab Khan, he did well in the PSL, but if you see the recent international numbers, he has not taken wickets even in ODIs. He is not your wicket-taker, he is not Yuzi Chahal or Rashid Khan," the cricketer-turned-commentator said.
"Usman Qadir can pick up wickets but he is too young. He has played very little cricket as well. Nawaz is also the same story - bowls restrictively. The Dubai pitch generally does not turn that much but sometimes you need bowlers who can come and pick up wickets in the middle overs. I don't think they have too many of those, to be very honest," he added.
Qadir has 24 wickets under his name in the 18 T20Is he has played so far and Nawaz, on the other hand, has accounted for 25 dismissals in 30 matches. However, Nawaz can prove to be a useful addition, considering his batting abilities.
Chopra's assessment, however, was not just limited to the spinners and he then turned his attention to the pacers, who he believes lacks experience. "The second thing I am seeing is the lack of experience in the pace department. They have a lot of pacers. Naseem Shah, who started playing ODI cricket recently - five wickets and all of that but how much international T20 cricket has he played - nothing," he said.
He also mentioned that the team will heavily miss the services of Shaheen Shah Afridi, who has been ruled out of the tournament due to a knee injury. Mohammad Hasnain has been named his replacement.
"Shahnawaz Dahani - he does extremely well in the PSL but how much international cricket has he played? The same is the case with Hasnain. They do have experience in the form of Haris Rauf but they are going to miss Shaheen Afridi a lot because they hugely lack experience in fast bowling," he said.
