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Mohmmad Wasim Jnr in practice session ahead of Pakistan’s opener vs Netherlands. (PCB/X)
Babar Azam stood out in the final practice session ahead of the Pakistan’s World Cup opener, while Shadab Khan received support despite bowling struggles. The surprise though could be Hasan Ali missing out and Mohammad Wasim Jr. being in contention.
Ever since the Pakistan Cricket team arrived in the city, now roughly a week ago, it has been tough to get a glimpse of what they have been doing. Smarting from two losses in the warm-up fixtures, Pakistan does have a lot of questions that need to be answered ahead of the ICC World Cup opener against the Netherlands at the Rajiv Gandhi Stadium, Uppal.
The opener could see very little of the Pakistan fans owing to visa issues, but the day before had quite a buzz in and around the stadium. Not to be mistaken for the crowd, but it’s the jostling workers still hard at work putting the final touches to the stadium. And in many ways, Pakistan team’s preparation seems similar.
With the security concerns, the Pakistan team have in a way been away from the media glare, even how much of media wants them in the spotlight. And their last practice session before the D-day was practically a close-door affair, but a few markers were very evident from the session.
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Babar Azam, who had a sensational time in the middle during the second warm-up game against Australia had the longest of the batting sessions on the training facility while Imam ul Haq and Fakhar Zaman faced a volley of short-pitch delivery and hard length from Zaman Khan and Haris Rauf.
Shadab Gets the Backing
In attendance was chief selector Inzamam Ul Haq who flew in late last night to ‘discuss strategy’, and he spent most of his time in the company of Shadab Khan, the underfire vice-captain who has endured a lean patch of bowling form – a worrying factor for the team ahead of the quadrennial event.
But the fact that Inzaman spends time with the spinner is a clear indication that there are not going be be any surprises on that front. Shadab had a light session bowling to the left-handers Imam ul Haq and Fakhar Zaman and while Imam was more focused on using his feet to the bowler, Zaman unfortunately, lacked the timing he would have wanted.
Usama Mir was also in the mix bowling to Mohammad Rizwan and Zaman, but by the looks of it, Shadab has the confidence of the team management.
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Mohammad Wasim Jr over Hasan Ali
But a major surprise could very well be in store, as Hasan Ali, who came in as a late replacement for the injured Naseem Shah in the Pakistan World Cup squad and had been given the new ball alongside Shaheen Shah Afridi and Haris Rauf in the warm-up games, did not bowl at all.
It was Mohammad Wasim Jr. who did the bull work under the watchful eyes of Director of Cricket Mickey Arthur and with Rauf guiding the young bowler on what lengths to follow. Wasim, who generally prefers the hard length, was specifically asked to pitch it further up and Rauf could be heard telling 22-year-old ‘Pehle 4 over mein puuri jaan laga deni hai’ (Bowl full throttle in the first four overs).
This is an indication of how Pakistan’s playing XI could look like tomorrow with Afridi and Wasim Jr starting. A role Naseem had been doing brilliantly.
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However, Team Director Mickey Arthur wasn’t one to divulge in team selection matters and as was the case in the Asia Cup 2023 with the playing XI being announced a day earlier, Pakistan have chosen not to follow the tradition.
“Ahead of him [Hasan]? We’re keeping everybody guessing. Within our squad, there’s a lot of clarity. The guys know exactly what’s going on, but you’ll get the full team at the toss,” said Arthur at the pre-match press conference.
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