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Superb bowling line-up, batting lags behind
The country has produced one of the most successful fast bowlers, Pakistan, has showcased enough raw talent to be called the ‘bowling powerhouse‘. Aaquib Javed, Wasim Akram, Waqar Younis, Shoaib Akhtar and not to forget Saqlain Mushtaq are one of the finest Pakistan has produced. The likes of Inzamam, Yousuf, Younis Khan have carried the batting well. The current squad is very inexperienced. To add insult to injuries they had an early exit at the recently concuded Asia Cup, beaten by minnows Bangladesh.
It is the batting of Pakistan that has been their main worry. The openers have not been able to provide a good start, the middle order players Shehzad, Ali, Sharjeel have also let the team down on a number of occasions, playing irresponsibly. And one still wonders about the role of Afridi in the team. Making his debut at 16, he is still around not able to prove his worth. His batting has degraded to such an extent that he barely gets to the double figure mark. He is now the captain and has to do something different this time to guide his team to at least a semi-final finish.
The exclusion of Ahmed Shehzad from the team was not a surprise. The gamble of playing Khurram at Asia Cup backfired for them, so the selectors have called him back. There are plenty of new faces and it will be interesting to see how they adjust at the big stage.
The bowling is as fierce as ever. Wahab Riaz has been fantastic. His fiery spell against Australia is the best I have seen of late. Mohammad Amir has made a fitting comeback into the side and has impressed with his bowling. Mohammad Sami is an experienced guy; he being around can help the team. The tall Mohammad Irfan can stop the flow of runs in the middle overs.
The tournament is an important one for this side. The India Pakistan match will again be a crowd puller. To be held in Kolkata it is a game every Indian and Pakistani fan is looking forward to.
Squad: Shahid Afridi (capt), Ahmed Shehzad, Anwar Ali, Imad Wasim, Khalid Latif, Mohammad Irfan, Mohammad Amir, Mohammad Hafeez, Mohammad Sami, Mohammad Nawaz, Sarfraz Ahmed (wk), Sharjeel Khan, Shoaib Malik, Umar Akmal, Wahab Riaz
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Sunil Gavaskar gives his opinion of GT allrounder Rahul Tewatia
The left-handed batsman from Haryana is garnering praise from all quarters for the way he’s finishing games regularly in the most exciting IPL season.
Gavaskar reckons Tewatia’s whirlwind knock in Sharjah (in IPL 2020) where he smashed West Indies pacer Sheldon Cottrell for five sixes in an over, gave him the confidence that he belongs to the big stage.
Speaking on Cricket Live on Star Sports, Gavaskar said, “That assault on Sheldon Cottrell in Sharjah gave him the belief to do the impossible and the confidence that he belongs here. We saw the impossible (he did with the bat) the other day as well. There’s no twitching or touching the pads (which shows a batter’s nervousness) when he bats in the death overs. He just waits for the ball to be delivered and plays his shots. He’s got all the shots in the book, but most importantly his temperament to stay cool in a crisis is brilliant.”
Gavaskar has also nicknamed the 28-year-old cricketer the ‘ice-man’ and lauded Tewatia’s ability to remain unruffled during the tense moments.