Islamabad [Pakistan], May 25 : Pakistan's former all-rounder, Shahid Afridi labelled Pakistan's pace attack as the best in the world and holds high expectations for their performance at next month's ICC Men's T20 World Cup in the US and the West Indies.
"I think in any cricket team in the world, nobody has such a strong bowling line-up. All our four fast bowlers have a lot of skill and even the bowlers sitting on the bench like Abbas (Afridi)... have a lot of skill with a good slower ball. If the players with such good skills enter this World Cup against world-class batters they will perform well. All the names will also have a huge responsibility over them," Afridi boldly declared as quoted by ICC.
The 2009 T20 World Cup champions have included five quality fast bowlers in their 15-player squad for the ninth edition of the tournament, with left-armer Shaheen Afridi to spearhead a pace attack alongside Naseem Shah, Haris Rauf, Abbas Afridi and Mohammad Amir.
"I feel Pakistan should make the final. The reason is that the conditions (in West Indies and US) suit our team If we look at the spinners in our team, they are outstanding. They might not be in form but I know they will return in form. If we talk about fast bowling, it's an incredible attack. In batting, we have great strength," the former Pakistan all-rounder added.
It's that depth in the fast-bowling ranks that has Shahid Afridi excited about Pakistan's prospects at this year's T20 World Cup which will be co-hosted by the USA and West Indies and has the former star all-rounder excited by what lies ahead.
Pakistan finished as runners-up at the most recent edition of the T20 World Cup in Australia in 2022 and Afridi believes the team can at least match that effort this time around.
The Men in Green will kick off their campaign against the US on June 6. They will face arch-rival India on June 9 at Nassau County International Cricket Stadium, New York.
Pakistan squad for T20 World Cup: Babar Azam (captain), Abrar Ahmed, Azam Khan, Fakhar Zaman, Haris Rauf, Iftikhar Ahmed, Imad Wasim, Mohammad Abbas Afridi, Mohammad Amir, Mohammad Rizwan, Naseem Shah, Saim Ayub, Shadab Khan, Shaheen Shah Afridi, Usman Khan
Player support personnel: Wahab Riaz (senior team manager), Mansoor Rana (team manager), Gary Kirsten (head coach), Azhar Mahmood (assistant coach), Simon Helmot (fielding coach), David Reid (mental performance coach), Aftab Khan (high-performance coach), Cliffe Deacon (physiotherapist), Irtaza Komail (chief security officer), Mohammad Imran (masseur), Mohammad Khurram Sarwar (team doctor), Talha Ijaz (analyst), Raza Kitchlew (media and digital manager) and Drikus Saaiman (strength and conditioning coach).
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