Yasir to play a match-winning role in the Test series against England: Iqbal Qasim July23, 2020
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ISLAMABAD-Former Test Cricketer spinner Iqbal Qasim believes leg-spinner Yasir Shah would play a match-winning role for Pakistan in the upcoming Test series against England, saying the Swabi-born cricketer has the potential to cause difficulty to the English batsmen.
Pakistan was scheduled to take on England in three Tests and three Twenty20s to be played from August 5 to September 1.While advising pacers to focus on their line and lengths, Qasim backed Yasir to come good against the hosts.
“Yasir Shah can play an important and match-winning role for Pakistan in the Test series. Right-arm leg-spinners usually do well in England. Abdul Qadir was very successful in England. Mushtaq Ahmed and Danish Kaneria also performed well over there. So Yasir has the potential to cause difficulty to England batsmen. Now it all depends on his form and preparations.
He has gotten considerable time for practice, so that will benefit him,” cricketpakistan.com.pk quoted Qasim as saying. “Speed is important but our pacers should focus more on their line and length. Since pitches are in England are a little damp, it becomes important for pacers to find the good length spot which will trouble the batsmen,” he said. Qasim also picked top-order batsman Babar Azam and middle-order Iftikhar Ahmed to be the top performers for Pakistan in the aforementioned series.
Qasim, who was the head of the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) cricket committee, said Pakistani batsmen would also benefit from the experience of head coach-cum chief selector Misbah ul Haq and batting coach Younis Khan. “Misbah and Younis have played in the modern era and left cricket only three years ago, so they will have better communication and understanding with the players. They shouldn’t face any difficulty and their coaching will only benefit the players. Younis can share his experience of playing in England and also improve the techniques of our batsmen,” he said.
Qasim said the Pakistani batsmen have no excuse to fail in the upcoming Test series after having spent a month practicing in England. “Pakistan batsmen should be used to the conditions in England by now. They are practicing day in and day out and are also playing intra-squad practice matches. They are getting acclimatized to the conditions and will know the behaviour of pitches. Now they should have no excuse to fail in England,” he said. “They are also observing the ongoing series between England and West Indies and can learn few things from it. Even after all of this if Pakistan batting fails, then it would mean that there are flaws in the techniques and abilities of our batsmen,” he said.
