Pakistan squad faces a big setback ahead of England tour
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*KARACHI: Pakistan squad faces a big setback ahead of the England tour as ace spinner *Yasir Shah who took 16 wickets in Pakistan’s last two-match Test series against Sri Lanka last year, will be missed in English and Irish conditions.
“Yasir did really well in Pakistan’s last series and will be missed in the conditions of England and Ireland. “The players there don’t have much experience playing wrist spinners and often struggle against them.”
Former Chief Selector Salaiddin Sallu discussed the reason why the UK doesn’t produce many wrist spinners. “The conditions there make the ball wet, which causes it to slip from a spinner’s hand. That’s why there are mostly finger spinners in those countries as it is easy to maintain your line and length as a finger spinner as compared to as a wrist spinner.”
Yasir, ranked 16th in the world, has been Pakistan’s go-to wicket-taking option in Tests ever since his debut in 2014. However, Sallu has backed the young Shadab to fill his considerable boots. “They aren’t used to facing wrist spinners so Yasir would have been a key bowler but Shadab is also a good bowler and he can fill the gap,” he said.
“This is a major setback for Pakistan but Shadab has done well in recent limited-over series and he can be an effective bowler,” he said. “He needs to be utilised properly and I am sure that skipper Sarfraz Ahmed, who has been leading the team really well, will use him in the perfect manner to trouble the opposition batsmen.”
