Misbah names two Pakistani left-arm wrist spinners like Kuldeep, Shamsi

Former Pakistan captain, Misbah-ul-Haq, has identified two promising Pakistan talents who, in his opinion, can be compared to international stars like Kuldeep Yadav and Tabraiz Shamsi.

In a recent interview with a local media channel, Misbah spoke about the dearth of such bowlers in the country over the past decade and highlighted the emergence of these two talented individuals.

“Unfortunately, in Pakistan, I will talk about the last 10-12 years that we didn’t have these kind of bowlers. Recently, there are two bowlers. One, Faisal Akram, who is coming from under-16, still isn’t getting consistent chances, and he doesn’t bowl that much anywhere. We invited him to practice matches against Pakistan, and at that time, everyone had trouble picking him, and there were issues in the nets as well. The other is Sufiyan Muqeem, who is currently playing for Pakistan Shaheens,” Misbah said.

Pakistan is encountering significant difficulties when facing wrist-spinners in this World Cup, and the statistics corroborate this fact. 

The Men in Green experienced a challenging run in the ongoing tournament, suffering four consecutive defeats against India, Australia, Afghanistan, and South Africa. During these defeats, they often found themselves losing wickets to the skillful wrist-spin bowlers.

South African spinner, Tabraiz Shamsi, had dismissed four Pakistani players, namely Babar Azam, Iftikhar Ahmed, Saud Shakeel, and Shaheen Afridi. Afghanistan spinner Noor Ahmed, who made his World Cup debut against the national team, picked up three vital wickets, which included Abdullah Shafique, Babar Azam, and Mohammad Rizwan.

In the game against their arch-rivals India, Kuldeep Yadav contributed with two wickets, taking down Saud Shakeel and Iftikhar Ahmed, and during their match against Australia, wrist-spinner Adam Zampa picked up four crucial wickets, including those of Babar Azam, Mohammad Rizwan, Iftikhar Ahmed, and Mohammad Nawaz.