Pakistan Cricket Team is in a crisis. A hat-trick of losses and Babar Azam & Co are staring at an early exit. Their next opponent is South Africa, who have demolished almost all bowling attacks barring the Netherlands. With a lot at stake, Pakistan are now banking on finger spinners at the Chepauk Stadium in Chennai. Quinton De Kock being the main threat, Shadab Khan even switched to off-spin bowling during Chennai nets ahead of PAK vs SA Cricket World Cup clash on Friday.
Iftikhar Ahmed is the only off-spinner in the Pakistan squad. Abudllah Shafique, Agha Salman and even Babar Azam bowl a little bit of off-spin. But can they share the responsibility to tackle high-flying David Miller and Quinton de Kock? Unlikely so.
That’s why, leg-spinner Shadab Khan turned to bowling off-spin for a long session in Chennai.
Will Babar Azam follow Dhoni’s trick?
If anyone knows Chennai’s pitch like the palm of his hand, it’s MS Dhoni. And the great Indian captain often turned to off-spinner early on. While it was Ravichandran Ashwin once or another finger spinner like Maheesh Theekshana now, Dhoni has always used off-break. Shadab Khan might turn his attention to finger spin to counter Quinton de Kock.
Chennai is one pitch where Quinton de Kock has always struggled. In 7 IPL innings, De Kock has scored five single-digits. In only ODI innings at the venue, he scored 43 against India. And there, Pakistan can learn.
Former Chennai Super Kings bowling coach and ex-India pacer Laxmipathy Balaji told TOI that finger spinners who can take away the ball from Quinton de Kock will be crucial.
“Finger spinners who can take the ball away from Quinton are absolutely crucial. Dhoni, leading CSK, always prefers to use off-spinners against him early on. He also looks for pacers who can vary the pace and take the ball away from the left-hander,” Balaji said.
Focus on bowling in PAK vs SA
Even though Pakistan batters have done decently so far, it’s their bowling that has let the team down. Shaheen Afridi despite taking a fifer has been the biggest letdown. Haris Rauf has been poor while both Shadab Khan and Mohammad Nawaz have also have had poor outings.
- Haris Rauf: Matches: 5, Wickets: 8, Econ: 6.97
- Shaheen Afridi: Matches: 5, Wickets: 10, Econ: 5.97
- Hasan Ali: Matches: 5, Wickets: 8, Econ: 5.82
- Usama Mir: Matches: 2, Wickets: 1, Econ: 8.05
- Shadab Khan: Matches: 4, Wickets: 2, Econ: 6.42
- Mohammad Nawaz: Matches: 4, Wickets: 2, Econ: 5.80
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