Indian cricket legend Sunil Gavaskar has praised Pakistan’s exceptional new-ball bowling in the game of cricket. As India prepares to face Pakistan in the Super-4 stage of the 2023 Asia Cup on September 10 at Colombo’s R. Premadasa Stadium, Gavaskar expressed his admiration for Pakistan’s formidable pace attack.
In a conversation with India Today’s Nikhil Naz, Gavaskar highlighted Pakistan’s long-standing tradition of producing world-class fast bowlers, but he particularly lauded the current new-ball trio of Shaheen Shah Afridi, Naseem Shah, and Haris Rauf. This trio has been highly effective, collectively securing the most wickets in the ongoing Asia Cup.
“At one point of time it was Australia and Pakistan probably shared that number 1 and number 2 spot because Pakistan have always had top-class new-ball bowlers. But at this point of time, they have the most lethal new-ball attack in the game,” said Gavaskar.
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Gavaskar further emphasized that it’s a challenging task for any batsman to adopt an aggressive approach right from the start when facing Pakistan’s formidable pace attack. In a notable instance, Pakistan’s pacers managed to take all 10 wickets when they dismissed India for 266 runs during a group-stage match in the 2023 Asia Cup. Unfortunately, the match concluded as a no-result due to rain, preventing a conclusive outcome.
“They have a left-arm, right-arm combination. They can move the ball both ways at good pace. So, it’s not easy for any batter to get aggressive against them from the word go,” Gavaskar added.