With days ahead for the Asia Cup 2023 start, Indian renowned commentator Harsha Bhogle made a huge praise over Pakistan’s fast bowling unit after their impressive performance in the Afghanistan vs Pakistan 1st ODI at Hambantota.
Harsha Bhogle Praises Pakistan Fast Bowlers
As per the Afghanistan v Pakistan 2023 schedule, both teams are scheduled to play a 3-match ODI series in Sri Lanka between August 22 to 26 across 2 different venues.
Pakistan handed a 142 runs defeat to Afghanistan in the first ODI game. Pakistan bowler Haris Rauf claimed a five-wicket haul while Shaheen Afridi bagged 2 wickets and led the team to a glorious victory.
Batting first Pakistan managed to score 201 runs in 47.1 overs after losing 10 wickets. Afghanistan in their second inning struggled to face Pakistan bowlers and ended up scoring just 59 runs.
Shaheen claimed two wickets in two balls in his second over to set the tone for Pakistan during Afghanistan’s batting. Naseem Shah also bagged one wicket.
“Pakistan are sending out a strong message with their fast bowling. As good a trio as any in world cricket. And this, in spite of the usual comings and goings in the administration”. Bhogle tweeted.
Pakistan are sending out a strong message with their fast bowling. As good a trio as any in world cricket. And this, in spite of the usual comings and goings in the administration
— Harsha Bhogle (@bhogleharsha) August 22, 2023
In ODIs, Pakistan’s fast bowling contingent has displayed an outstanding average of 27.00 since the conclusion of the 2019 ICC World Cup. This exceptional statistic ranks them at the top among the ten participating teams in the upcoming 2023 World Cup to be held in India later this year.
Pakistan captain Babar Azam, who led his team to a fifth win over Afghanistan in as many games said: “Haris´s spell was game-changing. We wanted to put 250 but unfortunately fell short so we needed wickets and they were given to us by our fast bowlers”.
Shahidi said it was a missed opportunity for Afghanistan to beat their neighbours. “It was a chaseable target. I think our shot selection in the beginning was not good enough and because of that we lost some wickets”, Shaheen added.
The second ODI match of the tour will be played on August 24 at Mahinda Rajapaksa International Stadium, Hambantota.
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