Former Indian batter ‘scared’ of Pakistan bowling

Former Indian batter Mohammad Kaif has issued Pakistan bowling warning following a low-scoring tie between Sri Lanka and South Africa.

The match saw a total of 157 runs were scored at a run-rate of 4.42, the lowest in men’s T20 World Cup history. That was mainly due to uneven bounce on the track.

While speaking on Star Sports, Kaif expressed more concern about Pakistan’s bowling, highlighting Shaheen Shah Afridi and Naseem Shah, particularly recalling Naseem’s impressive spell against India in the 2022 T20 World Cup.

“Everyone knows Pakistan’s batting is weak. Fakhar Zaman plays a little fast. If he fires, he can probably win the match alone. Iftikhar Ahmad plays fast but other than that, everyone plays at a strike rate of 120 to 125. You are not that scared of their batting but are scared of their bowling,” Kaif told Star Sports.

“They will have Shaheen Shah Afridi and Naseem Shah. Naseem Shah didn’t come to play in the World Cup in India. He was injured, but he is fit here. This will be a bouncy pitch. Naseem Shah is a very good bowler. If you talk about the Melbourne match that Virat Kohli won, if you see Naseem Shah’s first spell, he got a nick and the catch was dropped at slip,” he added.

It is worth mentioning here that Pakistan have won only once against India in the ICC T20 World Cups in seven meetings.