Pakistan will try to rack up crucial World Cup qualifier points when they beat the Netherlands in a three-game ODI series from Tuesday, but will be wary of star bowler Shaheen Shah Afridi’s condition.
The 22-year-old paceman suffered a knee injury during the recent tour of Sri Lanka, a troubling Asian Cup setback – and a meeting with longtime rivals India – coming at the end of the month.
Pakistani team bosses don’t want to overload a fast bowler who has played 97 times in all three formats since his international debut just four years ago.
“We are taking a few doctors to take care of Shaheen and want him to play a game against the Netherlands to see if he is fit and ready for the Asian Cup,” said Pakistani skipper Babar Azam.
“But we have 11 trumps. Any one of them can be a match winner on their day. I have confidence in any of them, be it batters or bowlers.”
The series in Rotterdam has been postponed in 2020 due to Covid.
It is part of the 13-nation Super League from which the top seven teams plus host nation India qualify for the 2023 World Cup.
Pakistan is currently third on 90 points, beating a formidable Australia 2-1 in their last ODI series at home.
Not making the top seven would mean taking a dangerous route through a qualifying race.
“There are important Super League points at stake that we cannot lose,” said Azam, who may be dismayed to see Europe baking into a heat wave.
“I think the conditions will be similar to those in England. The weather will be cooler, so we practiced with the air conditioning indoors, maybe that will help simulate the conditions,” he said on Thursday when the team left for Europe. .
– Recall for 38-year-old –
The two teams have only played three one-day internationals – all in multinational events at the 1996 (Pakistan) and 2003 (South Africa) World Cups and 2002 Champions Trophy (Sri Lanka). Pakistan won them all three.
After qualifying for the Twenty20 World Cup to be played in Australia later this year, the Netherlands is looking for a huge boost in its 50-plus fortune.
They are last in the Super League having won just two of their 16 games with one nil result and 13 defeats.
Those two wins – against Ireland – followed 12 consecutive losses in series against Afghanistan, New Zealand, the West Indies and England.
England also broke a world record of 498-4 against them in June.
But new skipper Scott Edwards believes playing against bigger nations has helped his young team.
“ODI cricket is still a benchmark for Associates,” said Edwards, who replaced Pieter Seelaar as skipper in June.
“We have a lot of young cricketers coming through against England and New Zealand. I’m looking forward to the next two, three years.
“We are playing against Pakistan which is another opportunity to take on world class bowlers and batters and that is a huge preparation for us to fine-tune our skills for the Twenty20 World Cup in Australia.
“It’s been a great summer for the players to get this chance to play against these bigger countries. It’s a bit of a shame that we don’t have some wins on the board.”
Pakistan is out of the form of fast bowler Hasan Ali, who is replaced by rookie pacer Naseem Shah, while Shahnawaz Dahani, Haris Rauf and Mohammad Wasim Junior are the other fast ones in the squad.
The Netherlands, meanwhile, has recalled 38-year-old all-rounder Wesley Barresi after a three-year absence.
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After Tuesday’s opening game, the teams will meet again on Thursday and Sunday.
(This story was not edited by DailyExpertNews staff and was generated automatically from a syndicated feed.)
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