Former England cricketers Nasser Hussain and Eoin Morgan discuss Pakistan’s chances for the upcoming ICC Men’s ODI World Cup. He provided information about the team’s strengths and areas that need to be addressed as they prepare for this much-awaited tournament.
During a discussion on Sky Sports, Nasser started by highlighting Pakistan’s impressive bowling mastery, especially the powerful seam attack of Shaheen Shah Afridi, Haris Rauf and Naseem Shah. He praised the batting skills of key players, including captain Babar Azam and wicketkeeper batsman Mohammad Rizwan, and emphasized their consistency in scoring runs throughout the innings. However, Hussain expressed concerns about Pakistan’s spin department, citing Shadab Khan’s recent struggles.
“Shaheen Shah Afridi is fit at the moment; Haris Rauf was injured in the last Asia Cup match; he says Naseem Shah may not be ready for the first World Cup game. This is a seriously powerful bowling attack.” The attack, and especially those three fast bowlers, and you know they’ve got the number one spot in Babar Azam. We know what he can do. Fakhar Zaman has been performing a bit poorly recently, but he has been at the top of the order. And Mohammad Nasir said, along with Babar, Rizwan is also a regular run scorer who scores runs in the entire innings.
“One thing that is lacking, which is unusual for Pakistan, is that their spinners are a bit out of form. Shadab Khan has not been that good recently. So, in the World Cup in India, you want threat from spin. But one thing with Pakistan is that they are a big, big ICC event tournament team. They can be terrible, and then all of a sudden, they can go on a roll. They are that kind of nation, that kind of Cricketing teams are there. Because they are fickle, one day they will be very low, and the next day they will be excellent,” he added.
On the other hand, Eoin Morgan agreed with Nasser’s assessment and expressed confidence in Pakistan’s ability to perform well at crucial moments of the tournament. Furthermore, he highlighted the importance of lower-order contributions.
“I definitely think they have enough enthusiasm; we’ve seen it in big moments throughout the tournament. It should be a learning period for them, and it should definitely be used that way, leading up to the World Cup.” So close that we’re not going to go back to the way we played in Sri Lanka; it’s a case of taking things forward,” Morgan said.
Morgan stressed the importance of building a balanced and flexible squad, ready to take advantage of the opportunities presented during the World Cup.
“My biggest concern for Pakistan is the fitness of their seamers. I think Shadab does a really good job with his wrist spin. In the ICC Trophy, he has always come across as a batsman who bowls; Faheem Ashraf’s fitness level, along with the all-round ability to contribute at -7 or 8, is also important. It’s not always your top order that will score; you need a balanced team that allows the team to play and take risks. Will make you comfortable enough,” he concluded.
